


Solace in Shadows: The Forgotten Alley

by Night_Lark



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Twins, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-02-17
Updated: 2014-12-30
Packaged: 2017-11-29 14:55:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 48,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/688237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Night_Lark/pseuds/Night_Lark
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Six years after the Potter Twins defeated the Dark Lord, a young woman finds a lost child in Knockturn Alley and takes him home. Hence begins the story of Harry Potter - now Corey Blake - and his families; new and old.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a rewrite, the original Solace in Shadows is available on request from my Facebook page NightLark93/Night_Lark.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Chapter One

It was Christmas Eve 1987, and Diagon Alley was packed with late shoppers buying last minute Christmas presents. Flourish and Blotts, Quality Quidditch Supplies and Gambol and Japes were the popular shops, with most people going for books, brooms or jokes as presents for others. Raven Blake watched all this as she slowly made her way through the throng to get to the apothecary, Slug and Jiggers. She had been pushed to the side by quite a few people, including one father whose son was desperately trying to drag his mother and father back to the shop they'd just come from, Magical Menagerie. It soon became evident that sticking to the sides of the Alley was a good idea after two frantic witches collided and one was crushed by a stack of books and the other was covered in many questionable substances from the Alley’s only joke shop. Avoiding the puddle of combined prank potions she finally ducked into the apothecary, cursing the fact that it was right next to the Leaky Cauldron and nowhere near the entrance to Knockturn Alley, which was where she came from.

“Miss Blake, I hope you’re not injured by the raiding parties?” The co-owner of the Apothecary, Mr Jiggers, asked as he emerged from the back room. Mr Jiggers was of average height with a slight belly, but he still would have been mildly attractive if it wasn't for his bald head, which made him look like an overgrown Garden Gnome. One time, when Raven had been quite young, she’d asked him why he kept shaving his head. He merely replied that it was easier to shave it all off rather than keep putting tonics in to stop the fumes from damaging it. Fingering her own unruly black tresses she had decided that tonics were preferable to short hair, at least in her case. “What can I do you for today?”

Can you get these ingredients and weights ready whilst I browse?" At his nod the young woman handed him a piece of parchment and browsed around the shelves. She ignored the section with the Hogwarts starter kits, and stuck to the more expensive section whilst the Apothecary walked around picking up and measuring her order. She found a few rare ingredients that were in fresh which she picked up, then once Mr Jiggers had finished with the shop front and went back to the counter she walked around the main shop to check that she hadn’t forgotten to write anything on the list. Once satisfied that she had everything she needed she went back to the counter and waited as Mr Jiggers finished pricing and boxing the ingredients up.

“That is fifty-three galleons, Miss Blake,” he said, and Raven moved her cloak out of the way to reach the pouches on her belt. There were quite a few, all bottomless and feather-light. She pulled the required amount of galleons from her money pouch, shrunk the box of ingredients (charmed to keep the ingredients fresh and separate to avoid contamination) and slid it neatly into a different pouch. Mr Jiggers handed her a record of the transaction and she bid him goodbye and Merry Christmas before leaving the shop. On the way back she noticed that Flourish and Blotts was somewhat empty so she made a detour to browse but also to pick an order that she had been informed was ready to collect. There was a family being served at the counter, so she wandered around the shop, picked up a few new texts that she had heard to be informative, and then decided to pick up a newer, revised copy of a Runes textbook she had at home but had been told that the author had made significant developments in the new edition. The counter was empty once she’d finished, so she handed the letter to the assistant at the till and waited as he went into the back room to pick up the Potions, Healing and Charms journals she’s pre-ordered. Once they were priced she handed over the money, waited for the assistant to wrap her books up in paper then took the bundle and gently sat it in yet another pouch on her belt. Pulling a timepiece out of a pocket on the inside of her cloak she decided that since it was nearly ten in the evening she would head home. With that decision made she started walking down the Alley until she reached the entrance to Knockturn Alley. Looking around to make sure no-one was looking, she flipped up the hood on her cloak and ducked into Knockturn Alley. She was often seen in Knockturn so many left her alone, but she still kept her hands free and her wand easy to get to in case someone, or something, decided to attack. That way she could get to her wand quickly, easily get a shield up and run. Raven knew her strengths and weaknesses and so knew she wasn’t a dueller, although she was good with a sword. But first and foremost she was a Potions Maker, not a fighter. She continued down the Alley until she reached a dark and slightly dingy shop front, and she quickly stepped inside.

"Raven," the shopkeeper said warmly. He had long slender fingers and pale skin. Although most Potion Makers did, Raven mused, looking at her own long pale digits; the paleness came from being in dark Potions labs all the time, and slender fingers help with adding ingredients without getting their hand singed. But Raven easily agreed that Jas’ particular paleness could come from the fact that his mother was a vampire. “Have you got another list for me?” He asked laughingly, knowing Raven’s habits of listing everything that needed replenishing in her lab. Raven just glared and rolled her eyes before handing the part-vampire a piece of parchment with a list on it. Jas just laughed before he walked out from behind the counter to gather the requested items. The items on this list were a little darker and rarer than the ones she brought in Diagon Alley, and in some cases classed as illegal by the British Ministry of Magic, hence why they had to be brought here rather than in Diagon Alley. As she watched Jas work she heard shuffling behind her at the doorway to the back of the shop, and turned to see a willowy brown-haired woman behind her.

“Olva,” Raven said warmly, embracing the older woman.

“Raven,” Olva replied with equal warmth. “I haven’t seen you in months child, I’ve missed you.” Her warm hazel eyes smiled at Raven even as her lips did the same. “I have something for you,” she said happily, and handed Raven two wrapped presents. One was distinctly book-shaped, and the other was soft and of a fairly odd shape. “Only the rectangular one is for you,” Olva said happily. “You’ll know who the other is for come tomorrow.” Raven looked oddly at Olva, who just grinned.

“The disadvantages of knowing a Seer,” Jas said from beside Raven, laughter evident in his voice. “Hang on to it though.” He handed Raven a box. “I won’t be charging. Have a good Christmas,” he said with a smile, and Raven’s eyes widened. Olva and Jas just smirked identically until Raven shrunk all three items, the box going with the previous box of ingredients and the two presents went into an empty pouch.

“Merry Christmas,” Raven said to the Mated pair, and Jas put an arm around Olva’s waist as the two said goodbye before disappearing into the back of the shop. Raven merely shook her head and left the shop, thinking about the second present.

Five minute’s walk later she was pretty deep into Knockturn and near to her destination. It was a lot darker in here, and as such not many ventured down. Only those that lived in the Alley over came down this far unless they were running and desperate. An unexpected noise in a nearby side alley roused Raven from her musing, and her wand immediately flicked into her hand. Heading towards the sound, she halted by the alley opening and listened for more noises. After hearing slight sniffling followed by a scared whimper she made up her mind to go and investigate. Raven silently cast a _Lumos_ as she walked, being careful to avoid all the puddles and splashes of various... questionable substances. A few more whimpers later the young woman stopped in front of a bundle of rags and blankets that had just been dumped on the ground. Crouching down, she reached the hand not holding her wand out to move some of the blankets out of the way, and gasped at what she saw.

“Oh Merlin,” she breathed in horror. She had moved the topmost blanket to find a child, maximum age of six or seven, sat on the ground crying quietly. “He-hello?” Raven said softly, and the boy’s head whipped up and his eyes widened in shock and fear. Raven immediately spread her hands in the universal ‘I’m unarmed and not about to harm you’ pose. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you. See,” she continued in a murmur, slowly and deliberately putting her wand away, making sure to wandlessly maintain the lighting spell. “Not going to hurt you.” The young boy slowly uncurled and sat on his knees. “How did you get this far into Knockturn? It’s not all that safe in here,” she asked, and the boy looked directly up at her for the first time. Now Raven could see his brilliant green eyes, almost as intense a colour as her own startling violet pair, and his mop of messy black hair. However his cheeks weren’t sunken and aside from a small layer of grime he was relatively clean, so Raven decided that he wasn’t one of the usual homeless urchins that lived in the Alleys.

“I don’t remember,” the boy said quietly. “I was asleep at home, then I woke up here. I thought it was a bad dream but I never woke up.” He showed Raven a series of little red lines on his arm that she recognised as pinch marks. “I tried calling for a house elf but Mum and Dad always told them to never come when I called, because I’m not allowed to distract the house elves from their jobs or looking after Russell.” His voice dropped as if he was telling a secret. “But Russell was allowed to call them _and_ the elves had to do everything he said, so he told them to make sure I was given breakfast, lunch, dinner, and lots of water in between.” The boy smiled, then shivered violently. Raven then noticed he was dressed in a dark blue pyjama set that seemed to be several sizes too small for him, since the arms and the legs only came halfway down his limbs and not all the way down.

“Is it okay if I cast some warming charms on you?” Raven asked the skittish child, and he slowly nodded. Raven brought her wand out again and cast Warming charms on the shivering child, then cleaned off a few of the blankets and wrapped them around the boy. He watched her suspiciously and relaxed when she pulled away to crouch a metre in front of him again. The two were silent for a moment before Raven thought of a question she had forgotten to ask. “What’s your name?” She asked him, and the boy started shaking his head and started to shuffle backwards. “Okay, you don’t need to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“Dad says I’m an embarrassment to the family,” he whispered. “And I don’t deserve the name P-” He stopped abruptly, but Raven sighed in realisation of the boy’s name, and family. After all, not many families begin with P and have twin boys, one of which is called Russell.

There were several more minutes of silence before Raven caved and sighed in tiredness.

“It seems to me that we have a few options here,” she told the boy, and he looked at her in curiosity. “You can tell me where you live, and I’ll take you back there.” As he made to say something Raven shook her head. “You could also stay here in case someone comes looking for you, under many Warming charms and quite a few wards to make sure you’re safe. Or I could take you with me and ask the people who raised me what I should do with you. It’s your choice.”

The boy took his time to think of an answer.

“Well, I still don’t know who left me here,” he reasoned slowly. “If Mum and Dad really did bring me out here and left me to die, then they won’t want me to come back. And Dad always tells Russell that bad people lived in Knockturn Alley that steal little children and use them for potions ingredients or in evil rituals, so maybe I shouldn’t stay here.” He looked at Raven seriously and Raven stared back, never breaking his gaze. “Why did you call them ‘the people who raised you’ and not your parents?”

“Because they aren’t my parents,” Raven replied genially. “When I was a baby my parents thought that they were being hunted, so they asked a group of people to look after me whilst they went into hiding, because they didn’t want to bring me with them in case they were found. So the people took me in, and my parents never came back. Quite a few people disappeared, so we thought that maybe they were actually being hunted, and they weren’t imagining things.” Raven could tell that he had more questions but he didn’t voice them.

“I’ll go with you,” he told her solemnly. Raven nodded before transfiguring a blanket into a child-sized cloak and handing it to the boy. He put it on and did up the clasp, and the cloak hid his too-small pyjamas and ended at his ankles.

“Okay, so whilst people won’t use you for potions ingredients they are still dangerous so I have a couple of rules for you to follow until we get to where we’re going. Firstly, stay close to me. We’ll only be walking for five minutes at most but I don’t want you to leave my side. Secondly, don’t look anyone in the eyes. Some might take it as a challenge. Do you understand?” The boy nodded, and Raven quickly transfigured some boots out of the remaining blankets. The blankets were old and full of holes so they didn’t make good boots, but Raven was confident they’d last for the length of time she needed them to. The boy quickly pulled the shoes on and Raven put a hand on his shoulder and led him out. They passed a group of 5 people in black hooded cloaks, and Raven’s hand tensed a little on the boy’s shoulder. A quick walk down the Alley and soon Raven led the child into a barely noticeable gap between buildings. It was small, and there was hardly enough space for them to walk side-by-side, so Raven pushed the boy in front of her slightly as they walked. The boy soon stopped as he looked at the dead end in shock. Raven smiled, took her hand off of the boy’s shoulder then turned to look at the boy. “I’m going to use my wand to make a cut in my hand and spread the blood over the wall.” He nodded slowly and Raven pulled her wand out of the holster on her left wrist and ran it along her left palm, then spread the blood over the bricks. The wall glowed slightly then it shimmered, but then appeared to go back to normal. Raven ran her wand over her palm again to close the cut, then ushered the boy through the wall, careful to make sure that whilst he stayed close he also had to go first, because the doorway would seal shut as soon as she was through. This Alley they were in was well-light, but little balls of light that floated everywhere. They didn’t want to use flames or lamps in case they fell on any of the vampires so nearly a century ago a wizard and a couple of demons modified the Lumos spell to light up the Alley at night for those who only had normal eyesight, like Magicals.

“This is called Oblitus Alley,” Raven told the boy as they walked. The buildings were all made of stone, and most were either three or four stories high, in order to accommodate the increasing number of people that lived in the Alley. “Oblitus is Latin for Forgotten. About 180 years ago the Wizarding World started hunting down Creatures and killing them because they were ‘Dark’ and ‘evil’. So nine of the strongest Creatures still living created a safe place, a sanctuary, where all the Creatures could hide from the Magicals. Most of the Magicals hunting them were of the so-called ‘Light’, so the nine put the entrance to the Alley in the one place that the Light would never step foot in; Knockturn Alley. The nine were, over the ages, called the Elders, and they are the governing body of the Alley, as well as keepers of the Wards. They are also my guardians, and I hope some of them are available at this hour.” They kept walking until they emerged into a large square courtyard. There were still some people milling about, and Raven got a few ‘hello’s and nods from them as they passed by. The square was surrounded by shops, and in the light the boy could see a bookshop, a weapon and armour shop and one with all manner of curious objects in the windows. Raven guided them to the north side of the square, and towards a large building made of light stone, although the windows seemed to take up most of the wall. “This is the Hall,” Raven said as they walked towards it. “This is where the Council of Elders meet although only three of them actually live there; the others have their own places in the Alley.” Raven opened the eight-foot high doors and they both slipped in.

“Raven, what brings you here at this hour? You should be sleeping.” A tall woman with honey-blonde hair looked up from a scroll as they entered. “And who’s the little one?”

“Sorry ‘Sen,” Raven said sheepishly at the glare of the Succubus that had mostly been her mother-figure when she was growing up. “I was on my way back to the Alley when I found a boy abandoned in Knockturn.” Seren put down the scroll and walked closer. “He assumed that it was his parents that left him there whilst he was sleeping and I couldn’t in good conscience leave him there or send him back to those who left him.” Seren nodded slowly and walked from the entrance hall to the hall behind. Two minutes later she was back and smiling slightly.

“Carl, Ash and Chase are still here, come on through.” With that she walked back into the room, Raven and the child following her. The room was circular and full of light despite the fact that it was nearing midnight. The walls of the room were covered in tapestries, mosaics and paintings showing the history of the Alley, and of the Creatures and Beings and the occasional myth and legend found their way onto a tapestry. In the centre of the room sat nine chairs in a semi-circle facing the door that the three just entered through. In the centre chair sat a pale male with dark hair and eyes. Two seats to his right sat a very muscular and bulky man with hair that looked like it contained all shades of red, orange and yellow and seemed to shimmer like flames. Three seats to the first man’s left sat a man with short white hair and bright blue eyes who seemed to give off a prickle of energy that was distinctly non-human.

“Carl is in the centre,” Raven murmured to the boy at her side. “He’s a vampire, and the eldest of the Elders so the others tend to look at him as the leader. The red-haired man is Ash, not his real name, and he’s a Fire demon. The other one is Chase, he’s a Weretiger.” Seren walked up to the chairs and sat to Carl’s left, and Raven said “and that’s Seren, a Succubus, one of only three female Elders.” The boy nodded and the two looked at the Elders. There was a round of greetings as the Elders said hello to the child they had brought up, then they got down to business.

“You found him in a sidestreet of Knockturn, you said?” Carl asked, and Raven nodded. The vampire looked at the boy and spoke to him. “Did you find out his name?”

“He never told me but he said enough for me to guess that he was Harry Potter,” Raven told him, and Carl’s eyes widened as the boy shrunk into himself and backed away.

“Is that true?” Seren asked the boy gently, and he nodded slowly and fearfully.

“Then he’s a human, he doesn’t belong here.” The Fire Demon growled.

“What about the human Mates of our inhabitants? Does that mean that they don’t belong here either?” Chase said in amusement, as if they’d had this argument before.

“They were chosen by the Fates themselves to be Mates to Creatures, Fate-marked souls are not ordinary Wizards and so they can be given the benefit of the doubt,” Ash glared at the Weretiger and then glared at Harry. “But Light Wizards are corrupt and care for nothing but the extermination of our kind.”

“But is he not fate-marked?” Raven asked him, and she slowly reached out to brush the terrified boy’s hair away from his forehead. There was the mark she had suspected to be there, a lightning bolt scar slightly off-centre to the right. Ash narrowed his eyes at the mark, then stood up and stalked closer to Raven and Harry. Raven kept her hand where it was and soothed the boy as Ash looked at his scar.

“And where is your twin’s mark, boy?” He asked, and Harry stammered out a reply.

“O-over hi-his he-heart,” he said quickly, and the five others in the room nodded as if it made sense. Ash nodded once to Carl and walked back to his seat.

“He shall stay,” Carl decided. “Raven, would you look after the boy as a brother? We can create documents and such to prove that the boy is your blood relative and make sure the Potters never find out.” Raven looked at Harry, then at the Elders, then she looked back at Harry and crouched in front of him.

“What do you want to do?” She asked him, and he looked at her in seriousness.

“You aren’t human, are you?” He asked her, and she shook her head.

“My father was a Demon, although my mother, his Mate, was a Witch,” she told him, and Harry bit his lip as he made his decision.

“Okay then, I’ll stay with you then,” he said decisively. Raven smiled and looked at the Elders. Seren was walking over to them with a vial in her hand.

“I’ll need your blood to key you into the Wards,” she told the boy. “You could only come through earlier because you were with Raven, so this will let you come and go on your own, in case you get separated.” Harry nodded his consent, and Seren pressed the vial to his arm and waited. Harry tensed as blood seemingly leapt from his arm into the vial, then marvelled at the fact that he didn’t feel a thing.

“Come back in three days,” Carl told them. “We will have prepared the relevant documents for your younger brother, Corey Blake. And I will still expect you tomorrow at the club for your donations, and we would appreciate it if you would feed Shane and Isa again, they are saying that the bond between you and them is weakening.” Raven nodded before leading Harry - apparently now called Corey - out of the hall.

As they left the building Corey yawned and stumbled a little.

"My home is just opposite, above the book shop," Raven told him with a chuckle. "We'll be there and have you in bed in about five minutes.” The boy nodded sleepily and Raven bit back another laugh. The bookshop was on a corner so the two Blakes walked around the shop and stood in front of a door. Raven pressed her wand against the door and muttered a quick spell, then let Corey through the open door and set the wards back up again once she closed it. There was a set of stairs in front of them and Corey groaned a little before making his way up them, then he stood swaying by the side of the door in front of him. Raven put her wand away and pressed her hand against this door, said a different charm, then pulled out a key from around her neck and unlocked the door. Once they were both in she locked the door again and the wards around the door automatically sprung up again.

“I’ll give you the tour in the morning,” Raven said with a smile as she looked at the tired boy. “I don’t think you’ll hear anything I say at this point.” There was a sleepy murmur of agreement and Raven laughed as she guided Corey into her spare room. She lengthened the pyjamas that he was wearing, cleaned them with a spell and tucked him into bed. “Goodnight Corey,” she said softly, and left the dozing boy alone as she walked out of the room. The room she was in now was the living room, which was open-plan with a kitchen and dining area to her left. Opposite her was the front door, and to her side there were three other doors apart from the one to what was now Corey’s bedroom; one to Raven’s bedroom, one to the bathroom and one to Raven’s potions lab. She had her own owl-order business, and had a great reputation that brought in more new customers by pure word-of-mouth than any other business she knew about. To her right, in the living room area, were two sofas, one armchair, a coffee table and a fireplace, which she then went to cast a fire in so that she could get warm. No sooner had she done that the flames turned green, and Raven backed away to let the incoming Floo travellers in.

Out of her fireplace stepped a tallish man, about 5 foot eleven tall, with wavy black hair and stormy grey eyes. He had a very slight build, not like the next man who stepped out. He had sandy-blonde hair and warm brown eyes, and was taller and slightly stockier than the first man. He was also paler, with the almost perfect porcelain-coloured skin of the Vampire race. They were each carrying a large cardboard box, and Seth had a slightly bemused look on his face whilst his Mate was smirking slightly.

“Hey Reg, Seth,” Raven said tiredly as she curled up in her armchair, still in her outside cloak and with her pouch belt still on her hips. “What brings you guys here?”

“Checking up on our little sister,” Reg, the first man, said as he placed his box on the floor before hugging Raven. “And the Elders told us to bring these over to you, said that you’d need them.” He gestured to the boxes then glared at Raven. “What’s this I hear of a new brother? You aren’t replacing us already?”

“It seems that the Boy-Who-Lived’s little brother was abandoned by his parents in Knockturn Alley,” Raven told him. “Literally just picked up out of his bedroom whilst he was asleep and left in a sidestreet pretty deep into Knockturn. He was probably pretty disorientated when he woke up, and he started crying. I heard the crying, brought him to the Elders who then asked me if I could adopt him as my brother. So now I have a little brother named Corey.” Raven made a pulling gesture with her hand and the box that Reg had carried through slid over to her. She opened it up and found a basic wardrobe for a little boy, including pyjamas, underwear, tops, trousers, robes, cloaks and shoes. She then pulled out her wand, the earlier piece of wandless magic having made her even more tired, and magically wrapped the box in sparkly blue wrapping paper and putting it under her 5-foot tall Christmas tree, which was decorated with royal blue tinsel and the occasion bronze coloured strand of tinsel, along with silver and gold baubles dangling off the branches. Raven pulled the second box to her, and looked at the books and toys that the Elders had picked out. There was even a miniature toy potions set, and Reg laughed when Raven showed that to him. Reg then waved his wand before Raven got to it and the box was wrapped in Slytherin green and silver, and he levitated it over to the tree where it sat on the opposite side to the other box. Raven then remembered the two presents Olva gave her, and placed the book and what she now strongly suspected was a soft plushie, under the tree with the rest. Reg then smirked at her and brought out more presents from a Never-Ending pocket in his cloak and then went to arrange them under the tree. Raven just shook her head and went to place the potions ingredients in her lab and the books and journals in the bookcase in her room.

When she got back to the living room the two Mates had gotten bored and so were making out on the larger of her two sofas. Raven just smiled, cast a protection and a repelling charm on her sofa and then dowsed the two with freezing cold water that burst from her wand. There were a series of yelps as the frigid liquid made contact with its targets and Raven chuckled as she sat back down in her armchair.

“And merry Yule to you too,” Reg grumbled as he pushed his wet hair out of his face. Raven laughed at the sight of a Pureblood son of a Noble and Most Ancient House pouting until he remembered that he too had Magic and after two flicks of his wand both he and his Mate were completely dry. He checked the sofa and made sure it was dry before looking over at Raven. “Does my brother know that his second godson is missing?” He asked seriously. Raven shrugged her shoulders and sighed.

“It is most likely Sirius will only discover it tomorrow when he attempts to drop off presents and finds himself to be one godson short,” Raven said sadly, and then looked at her timepiece. “I’m off to bed, are you staying or leaving?”

“Staying,” Reg said after a silent conversation with Seth, and Raven yawned and nodded. “’kay then, you can transfigure yourself a bed, just don’t forget to put it back to normal once you’ve finished. And no physical activities please, don’t forget it is my sofa.” Raven took Reg’s laugh and Seth’s amused smile as agreement and, after using the bathroom to clean her teeth, she went to bed.


	2. Chapter 2

 

Harry woke early the next morning. He snuggled down into the soft mattress and fluffy quilt, thinking that perhaps he had snuck into his twin's room because his had gotten too cold again. He moved his arm around and when he didn't feel Russell or any lingering warmth to say that he had been there he opened his eyes. Instead of the dark red walls with gold borders - Dad's idea, and whenever Russell had the House Elves change it Dad always changed it back - there were plain beige walls with the occasion terracotta swirl on the bottoms and tops of the walls. The bedding was in the same shade of terracotta as the decoration on the walls, and the sun was shining through beige curtains.

Slowly Harry remembered where he was. He remembered going to sleep in his bed at home, then waking up cold in a strange, dark alleyway. Then he remembered the girl, Raven, and walking through the wall, and meeting the four people last night (Elders, his mind supplied). Then he remembered the fact that the Elders had asked Raven to take him in as her little brother, and his name change from Harry James Potter to Corey Blake. He sat up and looked around again, then bit his lip as he wondered if Russell, Uncle Padfoot and Uncle Moony would be okay when they realised he had gone.

* * *

 _It's Christmas morning!_  was Russell Potter's first thought when he woke up. His second thought had him grinning, jumping out of bed and running down the corridors. His room was the Heir's Room, two doors down from his parent's room in Potter Manor. His brother's room, however, wasn't in the family wing, or even in the guest wing; it was in the servant's wing with the House Elves. The servants' wing was colder than most because the House Elves could use their magic to keep them warm, so the Manor Magics never involved themselves with the servants' wing. But because Harry was only young he couldn't warm himself up and Russell more often than not made Harry sleep with him, to keep his little brother warm but also because Russell liked being closer to his twin. Russell reached Harry's room and ran inside, only to pause.

"Harry?" He called in a trembling voice, when he saw that the room was totally empty. There was no small camp bed on the floor covered in a nest of blankets, no small pile of books from the Potter Library that were Harry's current weekly reads. There was also none of the books that Russell had been given as presents by various family and friends, and even strangers, that he had no interest and so gifted to Harry because he loved learning new things.

The room was completely bare.

Russell had a small thought; what if Mum and Dad finally moved Harry into the family wing? Russell ran back through Potter Manor to the family wing and then searched all of the rooms apart from his and his parents'. When they all turned up empty Russell disappointedly thought that they must have put him in the guest wing which, although comfier than the servants wing, sent the message that he didn't belong to the family. Russell sadly trudged to the guest wing and looked through all the rooms. There was no sign of Harry or Harry's things. That was when Russell started to panic. He ran to the Library and desperately tried to remember any titles of Harry's current reads, and after remembering that he was reading  _Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland_ and  _A Guide to Medieval Sorcery_  he ran around the library trying to find the books. Twenty minutes later his stomach sunk as he found both of them on the shelves. He ran back to his room and sure enough, there on his bookcase were all the books he'd given Harry.

Russell was definitely panicking now. There was no sign that his twin even existed now, and could feel himself crying. He was only seven; he couldn't do anything. But Uncle Padfoot could! Looking up at the clock he had in his room he read that it was before eight in the morning. Knowing that Uncle Padfoot would probably be up already he looked in on his parents, found them still sound asleep and ran to the Floo Room. A handful of Floo powder was thrown in one of the three fireplaces and Russell put his head in the green flames and yelled "Black Manor!" His vision changed from the back of the brick fireplace to an opulent room covered in black and gold tiles (the gold ones added after Uncle Padfoot took over the Lordship as a rebellion against his family). Expecting it to be empty he wasn't surprised when it was, he just called out "Kreacher" and the House Elf appeared.

"I need Uncle Padfoot, please Kreacher now!" He cried out as he tried to hold in the tears, and the old Elf must have known something was wrong because the stony gaze softened and he nodded and popped away. Less than a minute later Sirius Black appeared, still in outrageous red and gold striped pyjamas, looking disorientated as a smug Kreacher held his wrist. "Uncle Padfoot!" Russell cried, and Sirius lost the confused glaze in his eyes and ran to crouch down in front of the fireplace.

"Hey Prongslet, what happened?" He asked gently, and Russell knew that his Uncle could see the tear tracks on his face.

"Harry's gone!" Russell cried, and Sirius paled. "His room is empty, his bed is gone and all the books and stuff in his room has all been put away!" This was too much for Russell and he started crying again. "Where is he Uncle Padfoot, I can't find him!" Sirius nodded determinedly and stood up.

"Russell, step away from the fireplace and wait for me in the Floo Room. I'm going to contact Moony and we'll be there as soon as we can, okay kiddo?" Russell nodded his understanding and pulled his head out of the fireplace. He started pacing around the room as he waited for his Uncles, and sure enough as Uncle Padfoot promised they arrived just a few minutes after he spoke to Uncle Padfoot. As soon as they stepped out of the fireplace Russell ran up to them and hugged them, burying his face in their robes.

"I can't find him he's gone I thought they'd finally moved him to a family room and out of the servant's room but the books are in the library and in my bookcase and he's gone!" He felt two comforting pairs of arms envelope him and he broke down.

Ten minutes later a House Elf appeared in front of them.

"Master and Mistress be awaking now," she said softly, sadly. Russell felt someone let him go and crouch in front of the House Elf, whose name was Pop.

"Pop," Russell realised that it was Uncle Moony who left. He lifted his head up and looked at Uncle Moony and Pop. "Do you know what happened to Little Master Harry?" He asked the House Elf quietly. Pop just looked up at him with wide watery blue eyes as she fiddled with her pillowcase dress.

"Master and Mistress be awake now," she repeated, and it seemed that the sentence confirmed something for Remus because he nodded.

"Thank you Pop," he told the House Elf, and she smiled before popping away.

"Russell honey!" came a call down the stairs. Russell tensed at his mother's voice. "Merry Christmas! Have you had any breakfast yet?" Russell left the Floo Room, Sirius having stopped hugging him but refused to let go of his godson's hand. Russell wasn't as clever as Harry but he wasn't stupid, when he saw Uncle Moony and Uncle Padfoot look at each other after Pop left he realised what they figured out.

"I was just going to wake up Harry," he told his mother when he came into her view. She was in a silk dressing gown and standing at the top of the stairs, smiling at Russell. At his words there was a look of something in her eyes, so like his twin's, but it quickly disappeared and she smiled softly.

"If he's not up yet then let's let him sleep, okay honey?" She then realised that Russell wasn't alone and smiled widely. "Sirius, Remus, Merry Christmas! I wasn't expecting you so soon!" Russell glared at her and then looked at his Uncles.

"We wanted to say Merry Christmas to our godsons," the Black Lord told her. "So we were just about to go find Harry."

"No, don't!" She said frantically as she leant over the banister at them. Her eyes were wide with fright, and then with horror at the glares the werewolf and the Animagus were giving her.

"A funny thing happened this morning," Sirius said icily. "Russell woke up a while ago and went to wake his twin up. Harry's room was empty though, and so were all of the spare rooms in the family wing and all the guest suites." Lily Potter paled, and was getting paler by the second. "And Harry's belongings were all either back in the library or in Russell's room-"

"They were Russell's books!" Lily interrupted, incensed with the fact that Harry had the books. "That little thief took them from him!"

"I gave them to him!" Russell told her. "They were my gifts to him because you never gave him any!"

"We gave the ungrateful brat plenty!" She shrieked. "He was part of the Potter family and brother of the Boy-Who-Lived and yet he had the audacity to complain that he never got enough!" There was movement behind her and James Potter, the elder copy of Russell with black hair and brown eyes, emerged onto the first floor landing.

"Padfoot, Moony!" He said with a grin. "Merry Christmas!" Sirius and Remus weren't in a good mood though.

"Where is Harry, Prongs?" Remus growled, and amber was leaking into his eyes as a sign that Moony the Wolf was coming close to the surface. James Potter merely frowned.

"He's not here anymore," he told them frankly. "Lils and I decided that Harry was better off elsewhere." Neither Sirius nor Remus could bear to look at Russell's face; the utter desolation and devastation on his face was heartbreaking. The elder Potters didn't seem to think so though; they continued on as if nothing was wrong.

"He was just getting in the way and distracting you, honey," Lily said with a comforting smile. "So you don't need to worry yourself about him anymore and just worry about yourself; you are the Boy-Who-Lived, after all." Sirius clenched his hands as if trying not to hit something.

"Where is he?" Russell finally asked, after unlocking his jaw from gritting his teeth in anger at his so-called parents.

"You don't need to worry anymore son," James said with a roguish grin. "Tell you what, why don't you open a few presents before breakfast." Lily opened her mouth to protest but James just grinned at her. "C'mon Lils, at least one."

"I want to know where my twin is!" Russell screamed, and Remus had to cover his ears at the volume, what with his wolf close his senses had increased exponentially. James and Lily had the most amusing shocked looks on their faces; unfortunately no-one was in the mood for laughing. And Lily and James were shaking their heads; they weren't going to tell, they'd wanted Harry out of their lives too much for too long to want him back.

"Tell us," Sirius said with a growl. He'd withdrawn his wand and was pointing it at his once-partner-in-crime and his wife. Remus had drawn his own wand in case of a confrontation but kept his arm by his side. James glared at the two canine Marauders before scoffing and turning away.

"We left the little bastard in Knockturn," he growled. "Russell, come." But Russell Charlus Potter glared then ran past the adults to get to his room, where he asked the House Elves to place as many privacy charms and locking spells as they could.

* * *

Corey spent a few minutes exploring his new room. Apart from the single bed with the squishy mattress there was also a big oak wardrobe with a matching bookcase, desk and chair. Once he heard voices outside the room he decided to venture outside. He left the bedroom and saw two pale blue fabric sofas and a matching armchair. The walls of the large room were royal blue with a soft bronze line running along the middle of the wall. There were three windows in the living area, but they were all framed either side by thick curtains that looked handmade - they were a darker blue than the walls with bronze eagles sewn on. There was tinsel all around the walls in shades of white, green, red, silver and gold. There was a big fireplace with a roaring fire in it, and there was a brightly-decorated tree to the right of the fireplace. To the left there was a large bookcase that encompassed the corner and both walls either side of it, at least six-foot long on each side and hitting the ceiling, that was entirely full of books. Corey walked over to it and saw books about Charms and Runes, and even some on Healing. The bookcase itself was made of a dark wood, and looking up Corey wasn't entirely sure that Raven could reach the top shelf. Then he reminded himself about the joys of Summoning Charms. Corey then heard voices and walked to the left side of the room, where he found a dining table with six chairs. He passed a door which had a sign proclaiming 'No Entry - Potions Genius at Work' and a little moving picture of a stereotypical Muggle Witch stirring a boiling green potion in a large black cauldron. A few more steps and the wall to his left disappeared, and he looked into a kitchen.

The kitchen was a mix of light-grey counters, pale blue cupboards and a black oven, and it was the source of the voices. Raven was there, her hair pulled into an untidy ponytail on the top of her head and she had her hands in a bowl, kneading a mixture of some sort. There was also a brown-haired man there, taller than the other two in the kitchen, who was chopping up potatoes and carrots as he talked to the last person in the room. Then Corey turned to look at the last man who was leaning against the counters and playing with a radio, and he froze.

"You look like Uncle Padfoot," he blurted, then quickly put his hands over his mouth as his face morphed into a mortified expression. The three in the kitchen turned to look at him, and the Padfoot-clone laughed.

"Very close," he said with a grin once he'd finished. "Regulus Arcturus Black at your service," he said with a dramatic bow. "Sirius is my older brother."

"Uncle Padfoot told me he had a brother," Corey began slowly, a confused frown on his face. "But he told me that you died when you were eighteen?"

"I faked my death," Reg said with a shrug. "I met Seth, and I realised that I was his life partner, his SoulMate, but most of the Witches and Wizards would have tried to kill us if they found out." He looked over at the brown-haired man, and Corey noticed his eyes were almost like a cat's; oval shaped pupils, and there was an odd reflective sheen when they hit the light. The man noticed him staring and inspected him for a while. Raven and Reg were watching them, Raven curiously and Reg impassively. Finally the man nodded, then opened his mouth in a slow smile. As he smiled, Corey noticed two of his top teeth, his canines, extending and getting longer. "Seth's a Vampire," Reg told the young boy, and Corey turned his head to look at the half-Demon and the maybe-human. Then he nodded, and walked more into the kitchen and leant against the counters too.

"Merry Christmas," Raven told him with a smile, and Corey smiled back. "Once the food can be put into the oven to cook we're going to start opening presents." Corey looked surprised at that, then he back away and peered around the wall to look at the tree in the living room. There were two huge boxes and many little presents.

"The big ones are for you," Reg whispered in his ear, and Corey nearly jumped. He turned to glare at his Uncle's younger brother. The man just laughed and went back to fiddling with the radio.

"Reg is looking for Muggle Christmas songs," Raven told him when she saw the Black with the radio. Corey nodded his understanding and looked around again. "Feel free to sit down on the sofas," she told him, and he stood around for a little longer before drifting into the living room and sitting on the smaller two seater sofa, leaving the armchair and the three-seater sofa empty. A minute later, songs started blaring from the radio and Reg collapsed on the three seater sofa opposite him.

"The boxes?" Corey asked as he looked over at the tree.

"The boxes," Reg confirmed, and Corey merely stared at them some more before looking back at Reg. "So squirt, how'd you like this place so far?" Corey looked around the room and smiled, but it fell flat somewhat. "Miss your twin, huh?" Corey nodded. "And how did you like your bedroom?" At Corey's anxious look Reg laughed. "Raven's going to decorate it for you this afternoon as part of her Christmas present to you, don't worry," Reg assured him. "So you tell her what colours you want and she'll do it. I'd do it but Raven told me no," he said with a pout, and there were two snorts from next to the sofas as Raven and Seth approached, obviously finished preparing the food.

"Look at this room," she told Reg with a glare. "Just because I'm the first Ravenclaw in my mother's family of Slytherins doesn't mean I want my living room to be blue and bronze  _everywhere_!" Corey giggled as the reason behind the rather repetitive colour scheme became clear. Raven whispered in his ear. "After I changed it the third time he even put charms on it so that I couldn't change it again! Mind you, it was a friend of mine called Amy who made me the curtains so I'd keep them anyway." Corey's giggles erupted into full laughs, and he heard Seth tell something to Reg. It must have been what Raven told him because Reg first looked smug then he pouted a bit at the fact that Raven liked the curtains more than his decorating.

"Anyway, presents!" Reg said excited, and at Seth's indulgent smile Reg ran to the tree and picked up four of the presents. "Seth and I took the liberty of bringing our presents over before you two woke up," Reg explained to Raven and Corey. "So this is for you," he handed a soft present to Corey, and he gave Raven a familiar book-shaped present. Raven opened it to find a book on nearly-extinct Runes that were used to enchant cauldrons for more potent potions, whereas Corey opened his to find a dark green toy stuffed dragon and a note saying "Something every Magical child should have growing up". Reg's was a book on obscure Dark Arts from Raven and Seth got a large bag of Blood Pops as a joke, again from Raven.

Next Reg levitated one of the boxes over, and Corey gasped over his new clothes and vowed to thank the Elders. Reg handed over the second box as the other three opened their presents. From the Elders to Raven came small vials of blood from each of the creatures in the Alley, including vampires, incubi, succubae and all different kinds of shifters, all of which were neatly labelled with what they shifted into, their genders and their ages. The three adults laughed when some of the things that came out of the box were a potions book for children as well as a junior prank-potions kit. From Reg and Seth Raven got a few rare and decidedly dark potions ingredients whilst Corey was handed two packages, which he opened up to find a toy stuffed Grim and a toy stuffed Wolf, which made him smile at the reminders of his Uncles.

"Right," Raven said once all of the presents were opened. "I'm going to just go and put the new Potions stuff in my lab, but I'll be back in a minute, I still have one more present to give." The other three nodded and Raven levitated the large amount of potions ingredients and walked over to the door with the sign on. She touched her wand to the door and it opened, and she disappeared inside.

"I got her that little sign," Reg murmured to Corey, waving towards the little brewing Witch on the door. "She stared at it and then hid it in a drawer, so I found it again and stuck it on the door with a Permanent Sticking Charm. She didn't talk to me for a month but I think she's warming up to it." Seth had an indulgent smile on his face even as he rolled his eyes in exasperation at his Mate. Raven emerged a few minutes later and gestured at Corey to follow her.

"I didn't give you the tour last night so I'll go through it now," she said with a smile. She placed her hand on the door to the Potions Lab. "This, as you've no doubt guessed, is my Lab. I work from home making Potions to order so I'll probably spend a long time in here. I also have wards over the door so don't try to open it, and you're only allowed in here with me or Seth." She saw Reg's pout. "Reg isn't allowed in here unsupervised either, he'd probably destroy everything in here on his own." Reg just stuck his tongue out in a childish gesture at the insult, and Raven smirked mischievously. She walked to the next door, then went passed. "That's your bedroom, we'll do that in a minute. This is the bathroom, we'll bring your things in later." In the box of non-clothes the Elders gave Corey there were also toothbrushes and toothpaste and all other bathroom essentials. Corey had a look in the bathroom; there were pale blue tiles with a white toilet, sink, bath and a separate shower. "And lastly is my room." Corey stepped inside and saw the dark purple walls, a built in wardrobe with ebony doors, a dressing table, a bedside table, and the matching ebony bed with amethyst sheets. There wasn't a window, to Corey's confusion.

"This room's smaller than mine," Corey said once he'd looked around his sister's room. "And it's dark."

"I don't have much," Raven shrugged. "So I took the smaller room and left the larger room for guests. And since I'm half Shadow Demon the darkness is comforting, healing for me." Corey nodded in understanding. Once the tour was done Raven took Corey back to his room. "You have a double bed at the moment because it was the guest room, but would you prefer a single or stay with the double?" Corey thought for a second as he looked at the bed.

"Can I still have the double bed?" He asked, remembering the softness and the lovely feeling he had when he woke up. Raven nodded.

"Okay then. Any ideas for colours?" She asked him, and he looked around the room again.

"Green carpet?" Raven shot a green bolt out of her wand and the carpet turned from soft brown to almost jewel-like emerald. Reg laughed and Raven smirked. A quick look over his shoulder showed Seth just shaking his head in despair at his Mate and their adopted little sister (as Reg told Corey he thought of Raven). "A bit darker?" It changed to a deep forest green, and Raven even made it a bit thicker and plusher, and to Corey it felt like he was stepping onto soft moss. He smiled and nodded frantically as he enjoyed the feeling of the carpet on his feet. "Can it be like outside?" He asked after a while, and Raven nodded before waving her wand. Waves of colour appeared on the walls, all shades of brown and green, until all four walls were covered in foliage and the room looked like it was in the middle of a forest.

"Mind if I make a few adjustments?" Reg asked, and Raven looked at Corey and shrugged.

"It's your choice," she told him, and Corey nodded tentatively to Reg. Then Reg grinned and whispered to Seth, and Reg pulled out his wand and Seth held his Mate's hand. Reg then whispered a lengthy spell, and Corey gaped as the spell took effect. The window opposite the door, the only window in the room, slowing disappeared and in its place were more trees. Corey wondered what would happen to the light source without the window, before Reg gripped Seth's hand tighter and they seemed to glow. Then the room lit up as if it was outside, and Corey looked at the ceiling.

"I got the idea from Hogwarts," Reg told the two younger people in the room. "During the day the ceiling will light up like your own little sun, and it can be brightened or dimmed with something I'll give you later, and during the night it'll show you all the stars, and again they can be dimmed." Corey gapped, and Reg shrugged with a little embarrassment. "I'm a Black, we're obsessed with astronomy and the stars."

"What was the glow earlier?" Corey asked as they left his room to sit down in front of the fire. Reg looked at Seth and smiled lovingly.

"It happens because we're SoulMates," Reg told Corey. "You see, since Seth's a vampire he has a magical core but he can't access it, he can only use his vampiric magic. This means that because I'm a wizard, I'm able to use our bond to touch his magic and use it myself, but only with skin to skin contact which is why our hands glowed since that was our contact point and where the magic filtered from him to me." Reg finished, and Corey nodded in understanding at the slightly complex explanation. Just then an Alarm Charm sounded and so Raven and Seth went to go dish up the Christmas Dinner.

* * *

Sirius Black was furious. Of course, since he was in his Animagus form he couldn't show it past growling but he was sure that Remus could tell. Also, Remus wasn't exactly happy and calm judging by his amber eyes. They were walking - well, more like striding - down Knockturn Alley trying to catch Harry's scent. It was only ten o'clock in the morning so hopefully the scents wouldn't have had time to disperse. Then Sirius found something, and he immediately barked and sped up. He could smell Harry, sort-of, and he followed the very weak trail (which was also mixed with James' scent, which made Sirius growl even deeper) into a dark and very smelly sidestreet. He barely managed to make out Harry's scent and the small amount he found was also saturated in tears and fear. Remus gestured for Sirius to change back and Sirius did so, gritting his teeth in anger.

"He was so scared Remus," Sirius said as he turned to his fellow Marauder. "And James' scent is  _all over_  this place!" Remus nodded and sighed tiredly.

"I can smell something else," Remus told him, and Sirius frowned. "Young, female," he closed his eyes and took a deep breath in through his nose, "and non-human." Remus turned and walked back out of the alleyway. He sniffed again. "Harry and the girl leave, but Harry's scent isn't fearful anymore. It's full of curiosity and a tiny bit of trust." Sirius turned back to Padfoot and they continued down Knockturn to try and find Harry. They followed the scents to another alleyway, but this one ended in a dead end, much to the two canine's anger and frustration. Sirius turned back to human and screamed, kicking the wall for good measure. Remus threw a spell at the wall and frowned when he registered lots of magic coming from the wall. The two waited in the alley before Remus spoke up with a suggestion.

"If we don't know where they are, maybe we can find where she's been. Sirius, change back in Padfoot. If we follow the scent of the girl back and see where she came from, we might get some clues." Sirius nodded, grateful for an idea to distract him from the helplessness of not finding his second godson. A second later Padfoot and an amber-eyed Remus were walking back down Knockturn Alley. They passed by the alleyway where the girl pick up Harry, and they reached an inconspicuous door.

"Her scent's all over the handle," Remus murmured. "She went in there." He walked away and smelled that she had approached the shop from the entrance to Diagon Alley. There were too many smells there to be able to pick out one, and so Remus guessed that this was their only chance to find the non-human girl that had either helped or kidnapped Harry. Remus walked back to the door, steeled himself for whatever might be behind it, and opened it.

"It's an apothecary," Sirius said, and Remus startled at his now-human friend. He then picked up light footsteps, and he looked at the back of the shop to see a woman. Her eyes were pure white, no iris or pupil.

"You're looking for a child," she told them, and from the distracted tone in her voice Sirius could tell she was a Seer. He whispered that to Remus, and the werewolf's eyes widened.

"Yes, his name's Harry and-"

"That's not his name anymore," the Seer said gently, and Sirius and Remus both held their breaths. "They changed his name to protect both himself and his now-adopted sister."

"Where are they now?" Sirius asked desperately, nearly leaping forward to stand in front of the Seer and frantically grabbing her hands in a loose grip. "Please, is he okay?" The Seer looked him in the eyes and smiled warmly.

"He will be loved, and happy, Sirius Black. You will be contacted in the future, by his adopted family. You nor his twin won't be separated from the child for long." The Seer sagged a little, and Sirius grabbed her to keep her from falling to the floor. She looked up at him with brown eyes. "Oh, sorry about that," she said with another smile. She manoeuvred herself to sit up on the counter, her legs dangling. Another set of footsteps sounded in Remus' ears, and he growled slightly when a vampire appeared. "My name's Olva, and this is my Mate Jas. He owns the store." Sirius nodded a hello, and once Remus stamped down Moony he greeted Jas as well. Jas smiled back, only a small twitch of the lips. "He is safe, I promise," Olva told them, and she smiled happily. "I gave him a Christmas present, a green dragon," she told them. "I hope he liked it, Morgana knows his sister was obsessed with them when she was younger. She still is actually, even when she requires ingredients from dragons she still goes to the actual reserve and picks it up herself. She will give him a childhood," she promised, and Sirius smiled tiredly. He would reserve judgement, but he still wouldn't trust them fully until he met with Harry and his new family to make sure his godson was okay. He was a Black, after all.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again, welcome to Chapter Three. It's late, I'm doing this at 23:06 and about to go to bed. Enjoy and good night.**

Chapter Three

Raven made sure Corey was in bed and settled in his new bedroom before she left the flat.

"We'll look after the squirt," Reg said with a smile, and Seth nodded reassuringly. "You just go and make sure Carl's not worrying or running out of blood." Reg laughed as he spoke, and Raven smiled in amusement. Carl wasn't likely to show worry on his features but after raising Raven from a two-year-old up to the nineteen-year-old she was at present he did tend to fuss if something happened. And today was her designated 'donation' day, the last Friday of the month, so she headed to the fireplace to Floo to Sangre. Sangre was Carl's business, and it had rapidly evolved with the times until today it resembled a Muggle nightclub, including the Muggle music. Raven threw the Floo powder into the fire and shouted 'Sangre, Owner's Office', and when she emerged Carl was waiting for her.

"Hello Raven," the vampire said to her, and Raven smiled and nodded back. "How is young Corey settling in?"

"Very well, actually. Reg and Seth are helping immensely, and Corey was delighted with your gifts, although he's planning on thanking everyone when we come to see you in a few days." Raven told him, and Carl nodded and had a faint smile on his lips.

"After you," he told Raven, and she dipped her head and left Carl's office, a large room with dark wood panelling and a large black desk. They entered a long hallway with one side covered completely in windows. These windows looked down on the main portion or the club, and Raven could see a bar along one wall, with tables to the right and a large dance floor to the left. The bar stocked blood as well as alcohol, Muggle and Magical, and had to be manned by at least four bartenders at a time to cope with the amount of people who came to club every night. There were coloured strobe lights and when Raven put her hand to the windows she could feel the glass pulsing with the beat of the music, but Carl had put Silencing Charms over every window to block the noise from disturbing the offices and those that worked in them.

"How much are you taking today?" Raven asked Carl as they walked. The 'donation room' was directly across the club from the main office and the hallway ran in an oval shape above the club, so they had to walk quite a way.

"At the last check we only had slightly more than a litre and a half left of your blood," Carl told her. "I would like to take another two litres, and I have a Blood Replenisher on hand in case of consequences." A normal human could take a loss of about 1.68 litres of blood before they felt the effects, usually paleness and the beginning of shock, and a loss of anything above 2.24 litres and the body would begin to shut down. But seeing as Raven was part Shadow Demon she had increased healing abilities past that of a regular human and experiments from two years ago (when she turned 17) showed that she could afford to lose nearly two and a half litres (of the 5.6 litres in an average body) before she felt faint, and it only became critical if she lost over 3.2 litres, then even her quickened healing couldn't help her. "As you age the Shadow Demon shows in your blood, and it has become somewhat of a delicacy in Sangre. If we send you off to be trained in your Demon heritage as we had planned I fear we may need to offer your blood in shot glasses rather than wine glasses for the effects would be quite dizzying." There was a smirk on Carl's lips, and Raven nearly smiled.

"So how much has the price gone up then?" She asked him, and Carl's smirk widened.

"Nearly fifteen sickles a glass," he replied smugly, and Raven merely rolled her eyes as they neared the sterilised room set aside only for blood extraction. Since over forty percent of the beings living in Oblitus Alley were either vampires, incubi, succubae or shifters, and most of which need an intake of blood to survive, the Elders had asked about three centuries ago that any beings who could donate blood would volunteer to, to keep the inhabitants from hunting outside of the Alley and thereby risk getting caught. They reached the room and Carl held the door open and let Raven enter first, dipping into a mock-bow as she passed, his lips quirked into a small smirk. The room was long, with five reclining chairs and all the necessary equipment needed to extract the blood. The equipment was looked after by a very perky Succubus, who upon seeing Raven bounced over and hugged the half-demoness.

"Hello again Raven," she said happily. Amy, which was short for Amelia but she hated her real name, was short at five foot four inches with spiky blonde hair and frost-blue highlights. She was very slim and Fey-like, which according to her meant she had no shortage of partners willing to feed her. She also physically looked to be in her mid-twenties, although Raven had in on good authority (Carl) that she was approaching forty but, being a Succubus, they stopped aging at their peak to increase the number of partners they could get.

Amy led Raven over to the first chair and turned to one of the Muggle contraptions. Carl had said that extracting blood the Muggle way was much better than using magic because there was less contamination; if magic is used then the user's magical signature mixes with the blood making it less pure and therefore putting down the price. Raven cringed and turned away as Amy slid the needle under Raven's skin and into a vein, and Carl and Amy shared a smirk and Amy gave a small laugh at Raven's squeamishness. Raven refused to look at the tubes as her blood made its way through them from the needle and into bottles waiting to be filled. The time passed slowly as Raven studiously avoided looking at the needle or the slowly-filling bottles and Carl and Amy were too busy enjoying Raven's discomfort to make distracting small-talk.

Raven breathed a sigh of relief when Carl finally decided that she had given enough blood, and Carl's eyes glowed with amusement as he motioned for Amy to take the needle out, and Raven then laid in the chair and waited as Carl handed over a Blood Replenishing Potion, and Raven could tell it was one of hers from the black raven inked into the cork of the vial. She downed it quickly and grinned as Carl threw her a bar of Honeydukes' Finest Chocolate to erase the taste of the Potion.

"Shane and Isa tell me that you have been avoiding them and postponing appointments," Carl said in a smooth, purring voice, and Raven hunched up as she heard the amusement in the vampire's tone. "What have we told you about giving them enough blood to make sure you can be found at any time?"

"Erm," Raven said intelligibly, and Carl raised an eyebrow in both question and amusement. Vampires had a throwback from the Middle Ages that they were able to find any of their blood donors and so when Raven was about to begin Hogwarts Carl and the other Elders had approached a pair of vampires to allow Raven to donate to them in return for providing assistance in locating Raven if anything went wrong.

"Raven," Carl said in consternation. "Why haven't you fed them in nearly three months?" Raven looked at him gapingly, trying to find the words, and then blushed.

"They made overtures?" Raven said in a small voice, and she heard Amy snort in laughter in the background. Raven stuck her tongue out childishly at the Succubus. Amy just grinned back, and Raven turned away and tried to hide in her seat. Carl still looked unimpressed. "They made me uncomfortable?" Raven added in a squeak as he stared at her. Carl didn't let up.

"Shall I get Ash to tell them to stop?" He said eventually, and Raven nearly pouted at the mocking tone in his voice. Then she realised what he had said and she shook her head frantically from side to side. Ash was very over-protective of her since he nearly burned her when she was six, and so Raven knew that he was likely to blow up if he found out about this. She looking pleadingly at the nine-hundred-year-old vampire and he rolled his eyes and smirked, to Raven's annoyance.

"You'll come and feed them on Monday," he told her, and Amy giggled as Raven's eyes widened. "I'll make sure they keep their...  _overtures_ ," he drawled slowly, and Amy nearly broke out into hysterical laughter at the scene, "to a minimum." Raven nodded in defeat, and Carl clapped a hand on her shoulder and tried to smile reassuring. "If you want, I'll even chaperone," he said as the reassuring smile morphed into a smirk, and Raven merely slapped his hand away and left the room pouting, at which point Amy couldn't hold back and even Carl started laughing as he followed his pseudo-daughter to his office.

* * *

Corey woke up slowly on the morning of December 26th, and he smiled up at his new charmed ceiling in remembrance. Last night Raven had put him to bed, a new experience for him, and she had even read him a story from  _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_  ('Babbitty Rabbitty and Her Cackling Stump', Raven's favourite apparently) and she said she'd read another tonight if Corey wanted. The young boy took a moment to compare his bedroom now to the bedroom he woke up in the morning before and sighed happily at the changes. It looked much nicer than the hideous  _thing_ James Potter had forced on Russell, and he felt a stab of guilt that he was here and Russell was still there. He pushed the feeling away and looked at the new addition to his bedroom. The Elders, in the boxes given to him yesterday, had included a shrunken trunk for all his new toys. Corey then remembered a present given to him yesterday so he grinned, grabbed the item and raced outside. Raven was sat in the armchair with a book and a cup of steaming liquid, and when Corey ran in Raven looked up and smiled.

"Good morning Corey," she greeted, and before she could say another word Corey excitedly interrupted her.

"Can I do one of these?" He asked her, holding out the child's potions kit gently. "Please, please, please?" Raven chuckled.

"Of course," she said with a lingering grin. "But I think that pyjamas aren't really adequate for brewing potions in, do you?" Corey looked down and saw that he was indeed still in his pale blue pyjamas so he blushed, put the box carefully on the sofa, and ran back into his room to get dressed. Seven minutes later he was back out and Raven had finished her cup of hot chocolate and put away her book so now she was waiting in front of the lab with Corey's box in her hands. Seeing Corey ready she waved her hand in front of the door and the lock cleared open. "I have quite a few wards up so always wait until I give you the okay to go inside, okay?" At Corey's nod Raven opened the door and let her little brother in.

The lab was Raven's pride and joy. The lab itself was a decent size, no windows in order to regulate the light for photosensitive potions. The light was instead provided by spell-orbs, little pieces of magic stabilised with a few runes in order to keep the ambient magic to itself so that it didn't interfere with any potions. There was a large workbench in the centre of the room and the walls were covered in shelves and shelving units filled with many different potions ingredients. On the workbench was a rack of stirring rods and ladles in all manner of materials including steel, silver, iron, wood and more, and three cauldrons; one was silver, one was pewter for those potions where silver would cause harm to the recipients, and the last was simple steel. They were all self-cleaning, and there were more in a cupboard in the far left hand corner in all sizes and materials. One of the cupboards was spelled with cooling charms which Raven used to store her potions (the ones she didn't sell or make to order) and several volatile ingredients that needed to be kept cool so that they didn't lose potency.

"I have a couple of rules for the lab," Raven warned her younger brother. "Firstly, don't touch anything unless I tell you that it is okay. Many of the ingredients I handle are poisonous so I don't want you to get hurt. Secondly, don't run in the lab. The reasons for that one are fairly self-explanatory. Thirdly, if you want to tell me something wait until I'm not putting anything in the cauldron or stirring the potion; any distractions could mean the potion might explode. Have you got all that?" Corey nodded and repeated the rules back to her. "Good. Now, I want you to read through the booklet in the box and pick out a potion to make whilst I clear some of this away and get you some safe things to use." Corey nodded and quickly withdrew the little book from the box and sat on a stool that Raven had pulled out from underneath the workbench. Raven then put away the three cauldrons and pulled out a little pewter one for Corey and stood there deciding what she was going to brew. Carl had told her that they were running low on the blood replenishing potions and Raven had no orders from paying customers so she picked a large gold cauldron and floated it over to the bench to begin. By then Corey had found a potion that he wanted to make and Raven looked it over.

"A temporary Hair Colour-Changing potion?" Corey nodded excitedly. "And which colour hair have you decided you wanted?"

"Blue," Corey told her with a grin, looking at a table on one page telling which colours were available using which ingredients. "Dark blue." Raven gestured for him to get the ingredients out of his kit.

"Have you made any potions before?" Corey shook his head in the negative. "Handled ingredients?" Another shake of the head. Corey's cheeks were starting to redden in embarrassment but Raven took it all in stride. She picked up the booklet and opened it to the page she wanted. "Okay then, on this page you have a list of all the ingredients supplied and what they look like." Corey looked over the pictures and started comparing them to the various jars and boxes in the kit box. "I want you to read through the ingredients list for the potion and, using this list, pick them out so that we can prepare them. And don't forget the extra ingredient for the colour, refer back to that colour chart." As Corey started doing that Raven moved around the lab and gathered her own ingredients. She lit a flame under her own cauldron and started cutting up various leaves in preparation for the Blood Replenisher. Once Corey had finished Raven showed him how to prepare the ingredients, and the two brewed for the rest of the afternoon.

* * *

The next day Raven woke before Corey and started making pancakes for breakfast. Before she had fled Sangre Carl had told her that the Council of Elders would be expecting them at three o'clock on the twenty-seventh of December. They usually met with people in the late afternoon to early evening because most of the Alley's inhabitants were able to leave the house at that point; newbie vampires hate the noonday sun and the human members weren't about to go to bed anytime soon. So since they had the morning and early afternoon to kill Raven decided to take Corey into Diagon Alley.

She separated the batter into two bowls and into one she squeezed the juice of half a lemon and tipped in a load of raisins. She made her own pancakes and started eating them before the sound of shuffling alerted her to the fact that Corey was awake and heading to the kitchen.

"What's your favourite pancake flavour?" She asked the boy, and he looked at her whilst blinking rapidly.

"Chocolate chip?" He murmured, and Raven nodded and started to make her younger brother's pancake whilst eating bites of her own. When Corey was sat down at the table eating his breakfast Raven grabbed an apple and went into her room to get changed.

An hour later and they were in Diagon Alley, Corey marvelling at the bright colours and noisiness of the Alley. Opposite the entrance to Knockturn was Gringotts Wizarding Bank, so Raven decided to bring Corey with her to get him added to her account. They approached the building, which was made from white stone and looked to Corey like it would fall over at any point because it looked so tilted and unsteady. They walked up to the bronze outer doors, and Corey's eyes widened at his first sight of a goblin. He had a pointy face and long fingers and toes, and Corey hid a scowl at the sight of his red and gold uniform.  _Does everyone wear Gryffindor colours?_  He thought with a pout, and he jogged a bit to catch up to Raven. She had reached the inner doors, and Corey caught sight of words etched on the silver doors and squinted to try and read them;

_Enter, stranger, but take heed_

_Of what awaits the sin of greed_

_For those who take. but do not earn,_

_Must pay most dearly in their turn,_

_So if you seek beneath our floors_

_A treasure that was never yours,_

_Thief, you have been warned, beware,_

_Of finding more than treasure there._

"You'd be mad to try and rob Gringotts," Raven told him conversationally as they walked through the now open doors, a pair of goblins bowing as they passed. "Goblins are a rather tricky species. I doubt even Merlin knows what traps and tricks they've used to protect the vaults." The main room had a long counter in the middle, manned by nearly a hundred goblins. Raven must have spotted an empty booth because she suddenly strode up to the counter, Corey following eagerly.

"Many greetings Account Manager Crackjaw," Raven said with a small bow of her head. "I have come to make changes to my vault. May we speak in private?" The goblin behind the desk, a rather stout older goblin with a scraggly beard and moustache, nodded and hopped down from a chair before leading the two around the desk and through one of many doors in the wall behind the desks. They walked down a hallway and entered another door and into a room containing merely a desk and three seats; one behind the desk and two in front. The goblin settled behind the desk before speaking in a deep gravelly tone, almost like two rocks sliding together slowly.

"Many greetings to you Miss Blake," he said with a nod to Raven. "What business do you have with us today?" Raven paused before biting her lip nervously.

"I have need of lots of things, Crackjaw," she said haltingly. "I wouldn't insult you by asking for a vow of silence but I would hope that what is said here stays here." At the goblin's nod Raven took a deep breath in and began. "This is my brother Corey Blake, but he was previously known as Harry James Potter. The Lord Potter left him in a sidestreet of Knockturn Alley, probably in the hope that he would die. I found him and have promptly adopted him as my family. The Elder Council are getting us Muggle papers such as a birth certificate, but we were hoping that you might help me as you would a Muggleborn graduate trying to bring her little brother into the Wizarding World after he has shown signs of accidental magic." Crackjaw stared at them for over a minute before nodding slowly.

"I believe we can help," he told them. "When a Muggleborn student gets their Hogwarts letter, they are automatically issued with a set of papers that define them as a Wizarding Citizen. It wouldn't be unusual for you to apply for them now as his older sister. Once the Council have produced the required Muggle documentation we will only need approximately an hour to complete the Wizarding papers." Raven nodded in understanding.

"The documents should be ready later today so would tomorrow be appropriate?" She asked the Goblin.

"It would indeed," he replied, and Raven smiled. "Is half past ten an agreeable time for you?"

"It is, thank you." Raven looked down at Corey. "I would also like to open a second vault with an amount of 10 Galleons transferred into it every month starting from today. I would like it only to be accessible only by me through the means of this bank and by Corey by whatever means would be appropriate for a seven-year-old." Crackjaw nodded.

"We can do that," he told her. "We would advise a pouch linked magically to the vault. The young Mr Blake need only put his hand in and pull out the needed coins and they will be automatically pulled from his vault. Would the statements be addressed to you?"

"No, address them to Corey," Raven told him, and Corey's mouth dropped. "I won't be monitoring it at all. This money will be Corey's, to spend or save as he will." Crackjaw nodded and wrote everything down as Raven talked.

"Everything shall be ready in two days, bring us the papers and once Mr Blake is officially a citizen his account with us will be activated. Good day to you Miss Blake, Mr Blake." Raven nodded and stood, Corey quickly following.

"Good day to you too, Manager Crackjaw," she replied, and they left the room and the bank.

* * *

Corey was winding his way around Flourish and Blotts Bookshop, looking at every single book they were selling. After Gringott's they went to Mr Mulpeppers's Apothecary who, according to Raven, stocked better quality plant-based ingredients such as leaves and roots as opposed to Slugs and Jiggers, who stocked animal-based ingredients such as Boomslang skin, flobberworm mucus and dragon liver. After that Raven let Corey marvel at the jokes in Gambol and Japes before treating him to an ice cream from Fortescue's, then she'd ushered him to the bookstore and told him he had a limit of ten books before she disappeared into the Fiction section of the shop. Corey had been here for nearly twenty minutes and had decided on three books; one on basic Potions theory, Wizarding traditions and Hogwarts: A History. He looked over at the children's fiction and found a few Wizarding Fairy Tales before looking over at the teen and adult and laughing at Raven sitting cross-legged on the floor with a pile of about fifteen books by her side. She was reading the first chapter of each before deciding whether she wanted them or not. Corey went back to the children's section and then moved to the primary school textbooks.

The siblings spent nearly an hour and a half in the shelves of the bookshop, and it was nearing one o'clock in the afternoon when they emerged and paid for their books. Keeping an eye on the time Raven let Corey loose in Scrivenshaft's Stationary Shop, Diagon Branch for twenty minutes to pick out a quill, ink and a few note-taking journals before buying lunch in the Leaky Cauldron, and then they walked back to Oblitus to meet with the Elder Council.

They were all gathered when Raven and Corey were allowed into the chamber. Corey picked out the four who spoke to them the first time, but the other five he had no idea of their names or species. On the far left sat a woman with nut-brown skin, hair a darker shade of mahogany and moss-green eyes. "Earth demoness," Raven told him quietly. "Her name's Adana." Next to her was Chase, and the tiger shifter winked at the two guests before turning away and talking to the man on his right. This man wasn't as tall as Chase or Carl, maybe about Raven's height. He had fluffy white hair and eyes that looked like a clear blue sky on a sunny day. As Corey watched him, his hair seemed to be ruffled by an imaginary wind. "Amon, a demon who can control air. He's also a submissive who hasn't found his mate yet, so he tends to get babied a bit by the others. He was quite glad that they were asked to look after me because he wasn't the youngest anymore." The next three were sat in the centre of the semi-circle of chairs, and they also looked to be physically the eldest, late twenties or early thirties. Corey recognised Seren and Carl, and looked to Raven for the third. "Rhys, an Incubus." He was tanned and with a stronger jaw and a hint of a beard, but looking between Seren and Rhys he noticed the similarities between them. They had identical coloured hair, although of different lengths since Seren's was mid-back and Rhys' was shoulder-length, and their faces were almost the same shape. "Yes, they are related; Rhys is Seren's older brother, born about 5 years apart." Raven whispered to him, and Corey nodded in understanding. After them sat Ash the Fire Demon, and then next to him sat a man who watched them with amber eyes. They reminded Corey of his Uncle Moony, and he mouthed as such to Raven. She merely nodded and told him the werewolf's name. "Rafe, short for Rafael. He doesn't like to be called it though. And lastly there's Alina, a Demoness of Light." The last person in the chairs looked taller than Raven but not as tall as Seren, and she had a very aristocratic face and features. There was no expression on her face as she surveyed them with pale yellow eyes, whereas the other Council Members had all smiled warmly at Raven when they saw her enter. Maybe it was something to do with Raven being half Shadow Demon? Corey couldn't think on it because Carl then stood up and started speaking.

"We are here to decide what to do with the child now called Corey Damien Blake, formerly Harry James Potter," he said slowly, his voice ringing around the circular room. "Firstly, we will return this to you." Seren lifted up a half-empty vial of red liquid. "Young Corey has now been entered into the Wards. Secondly, we have obtained the relevant paperwork proclaiming him to be born to Muggles, and have confirmed the change of name on the Hogwarts Register." Raven looked relieved at that information, and Seren stood up and passed the vial to her. Raven had explained earlier to Corey that them giving the blood back was to show Raven that they weren't going to keep it for anything bad but when Corey looked up at her wanting to know what the Hogwarts Register was she merely shook her head slightly, and Corey reminded himself to ask when they left the hall. "Have you procured the necessary documentation for the Wizarding World?" Carl asked the half-demoness, and she shook her head.

"The Muggle documents are needed first," she told him, and Carl handed her a blue file.

"Everything is in there," he told her. "A birth certificate, a passport and a rewritten will from your fictitious parents which includes your brother in it." Raven nodded and Carl sat back down. "We have spoken and we believe that young Mr Blake would benefit from tutoring before leaving for Hogwarts. As you are seven years of age we have four years to teach you all that we want before Hogwarts." He addressed Corey directly, and the boy nodded in interest. "Well then." He sat down and waved his hand, causing two armchairs to appear in front of the two standing guests. Raven walked over to them and sat, and Corey quickly did the same. "We wanted to start with the basics," Carl told Corey. "Firstly you will be learning the Wizarding History and Traditions with a Master in Wales, then International Customs with several different tutors around the world. They will teach you the language, beliefs and traditions of the most common colonies today. Does that sound suitable?" Corey's eyes were wide at the things that he might be taught and nodded quickly. "The tutors have given their consent to teach Raven a slightly different course which will include less Wizarding Customs and more etiquette behind meetings of Beings." Raven rolled her eyes; Carl, Ash and Rhys had been trying to get her to learn all that since she was fifteen, but she preferred brewing to social chitchat. Ash caught her look and smirked at her. "There will be many things to teach Corey that you Raven will not need, so we've found someone who is willing to teach you how to use your demon abilities." At this Raven's eyes widened.

"You said that Shadow Demons were rare, even rarer than Light Demons," here she gave a respectful nod to Alina who inclined her head slightly in response.

"It is true that the only Shadow demon we know of is your father," Amon said in a clear, breezy voice. "But recently we have heard of a group who have managed to harness the elements, including Shadow. Since your father isn't here to tell you what you need to know we have looked for other alternatives." Corey watched as Raven's eyes lit up at the prospect of learning more. Raven had told him that at the moment she could only talk to the Shadows and occasionally she could send them out to listen to conversations then come back and whisper the conversation back to her, so Corey knew she'd be ecstatic to learn more.

"First you will spend four months with Master Vaughn in Wales, learning about Magical culture and to learn why the rift appeared between the Light and Dark families and us. You will also learn the history of the British Wizarding World, as Raven has complained that the Hogwarts Professor doesn't cover much of that." Raven just chuckled and shook her head. "From there you will travel by Portkey to your next mentor. You will, of course, have breaks in the middle and for birthdays and Yule." Raven looked impressed, and Corey felt a growing excitement at the plans being made. "We would also ask permission to place a misdirection charm on Corey, so that those who knew Harry Potter would not make a connection between him and Corey without being told the truth." Raven looked at Corey.

"It's your call," she told him. "The charm won't make you look any different, it will just mean that anyone who looks at you won't compare you to Harry and realise you are one and the same." Corey thought for a moment, surprised that they were letting him make a big decision when he was only seven but he made up his mind quickly.

"It would make this all for nothing if someone knew Corey was Harry," he said simply, and Carl nodded as the two Elders either side of him stood up.

"We're the best to attempt this magic," Seren told them. "Incubi and Succubae are naturally skilled at manipulation, and no counter-spell exists for Incubi magic." Seren and Rhys grasped each other's hand which started to glow white, and it grew brighter until they put their free hands on either side of his head, and the room flashed white. When the spots disappeared from his vision the two were sat down on their chairs (or maybe thrones was closer, he thought with a childish giggle) and Raven was covered in inky-black strands. The Shadows then moved slightly, uncovering one of Raven's eyes, before they all left her and dissolved into nothing. Corey stared in amazement after his first encounter with the Shadows. Raven blushed.

"Extreme light hurts my eyes," she said with a dismissive shrug, and they turned to the Elders to discuss the future travels.

* * *

Regulus Black was hunched over his desk, trying to figure out how to write a letter. This letter had been a long time in the making so he wanted to make sure it said everything he wanted it to say and in a way that would insure the recipient didn't blow up in anger. So far he had started the letter with 'Dear Sirius', 'To Sirius Black', and he even started out as 'My Lord Black' out of nervousness when he had first begun to compose the letter. Eventually he stopped looking at the letter as an introduction to a business deal and instead wrote as the letter was intended; a missive to his older brother.

_Dear Brother,_

He wrote.

_I know that you're probably surprised to get this letter. As far as you knew I'd joined the Death Eaters and died in Voldemort's service. Well, I didn't do either, although I agree with most of them on their views. How much do you know about them, and not what the Light Wizards have told you?_

_The reason I let everyone believe I was dead was simple; I found my SoulMate, and he's a vampire. So I couldn't turn to the Light like you because they hate Dark Creatures, and I couldn't stay Dark because Voldemort has slipped into insanity. So my Mate took to me to a safe place, and we've been here for nearly eight years._

_There is a reason why I'm writing other than to inform you of my being alive. My Mate wishes to speak to you, to ask my Lord's permission for something. I have my suspicions as to what it is but I'll hold my tongue._

_The enclosed picture of me and my Mate is also a Portkey; it will activate to bring you to our home when you say your middle name. We'll be eating around seven in the evening tonight if you wish to join us, though don't take that to mean that you can't appear before then; we'd love to spend the afternoon talking to you. I only hope that you're staying at Grimmauld Place and not at Black Manor but if you are at the Manor then feel free to join us on the day you receive this letter, we tend to make more food than we can eat anyway._

_Your loving younger brother,_

_Regulus_

Reg decided he babbled a bit at the end but he just hoped and wished that his brother would come today; he'd missed Sirius more than he'd imagined. Reg looked up at the window and smiled when he saw his little barn owl Archie (short for Archimedes) waiting with his leg out. Reg tied the scroll to his seeming-psychic owl's leg and watched him fly away.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there, I'm sorry this has been so slow but I kinda forgot I was posting on this site... Sorry!!!

Sirius stared down at the most life-changing letter he'd ever received, including his Hogwarts invitation and his acceptance into the Auror Academy; the letter containing the information that his little brother was alive. The accompanying photo showed an older Regulus, not a gangly boy on the cusp of manhood anymore but still with a Seeker's slight build, and a tall, slightly burlier man with his arms wrapped possessively around Regulus. Regulus looked happy, Sirius thought with a soft smile. There was a joyful grin on Regulus' face as he playfully struggled to escape his Mate's hold. Sirius hadn't know what to think when he had first read the letter, thoughts that it had been a hoax had flitted around his head until he had cast revealing spells on the parchment and had found all the Black codes and precautions their father had taught them. The photograph was also legitimate, not one part of it was faked, so Sirius had sat down on the nearest sofa and reread the letter about three or four times.

Sirius remembered his father's teachings, that Dark Creatures were nothing to fear and that in fact it was an honour to be associated with one, then he remembered all that he was taught at Hogwarts, Dumbledore and James telling him that they were disgusting and evil and it was a blessing that they had either died out or disappeared.  _Obviously they'd hidden,_  Sirius' thoughts headed to a tangent, and he shook his head sharply. Regulus was alive and that was what mattered, not that fact that the man so tightly holding him and looking at him with love and adoration was a vampire. And of course it mattered that Regulus had sent him a portkey and an invitation for dinner. According to the date at the top it was only sent today, and Sirius was luckily staying at Grimmauld Place for the week; he didn't want James to find him, and the darkness of Grimmauld Place suited his mood. He looked back at the photo then stood and walked out of the lounge he was in. Half-distractedly he walked to the Tapestry Room and went straight to the part of the tree where his name, and Regulus', was magically sewn on and cast the strongest detection charm he could. There! He found a tiny glamour on the threads, making the year 1979 appear on the tapestry where it wasn't supposed to. He muttered the countercharm and watched as the date disappeared, showing the fact that Regulus was alive. The glamour held the faintest hint of his brother's magic attesting to the fact that Regulus had thought of everything when he'd disappeared. That was the final check he could make to ascertain the truth about the letter, the first being the owl that had delivered it. Sirius walked back to the room where he'd left the letter and turned to the bird sitting on a perch eating owl treats. He'd recognised Archimedes as soon as Kreacher had brought the barn owl to him. The old Elf had been fairly vibrating in excitement when he appeared to the current Lord Black proving that he too recognised the bird. Regulus had always been Kreacher's favourite Master, the boy having taught Kreacher to read and write out of pure boredom whilst Sirius was at Hogwarts, and he'd treated Kreacher the best out of all of them, even his mother. Sirius had cast the same detection charm at the owl and found only the standard charms that a Pureblood family casts on its owls; anti-Summoning charms, protection charms and spells that stopped people from intercepting the letters. No glamours at all, proving that this was the real Archimedes. Sirius had thought that the owl had merely flew away when Regulus disappeared, going to live in a forest somewhere and find a female and have chicks. It made sense though that he went to find his owner, post owls could always find their owners otherwise how would they know where to return to after delivering a letter?

Sirius left the room again but this time he walked to the entrance hall and stood in front of a pair of long dusty curtains. Kreacher appeared behind him, waiting. Sirius then opened the curtains, and Kreacher cancelled the charm on the portrait that only allowed its occupant in the frame. His mother stared down at him in silence, a blank look on her face, and soon a stately figure looking like a near copy of his sons walked into the portrait, watching his eldest son as he made himself comfortable next to his wife.

"Mother, Father," Sirius said respectfully, and Walburga's face showed a hint of surprise before it went blank again. Sirius tried to match that blankness before giving up, his excitement and joy plain on his face. "I received a letter today from an unexpected source. Regulus is alive." Walburga gasped and her face showed an expression of delight whilst Orion simply closed his eyes and smiled. He had died mere months before Regulus disappeared and had been devastated when he couldn't console his wife in person. "He faked his death and disappearance," Sirius told them. "Before he left he placed a complex glamour on the tapestry to make his death appear, and he disappeared. Apparently two summers beforehand he'd met his Mate." Walburga's eyes lit up at the use of the word 'Mate', and Orion inclined his head waiting for his son to continue. "Who is apparently a Vampire. He knew that with the current political climate he would be in danger so he disappeared with his Mate. I received a letter from him today inviting me for the evening meal." Walburga simply sat in silence with her eyes closed, a small smile on her lined face.

"To be a Mate of a Being is an honour," Orion said carefully, watching Sirius closely. "But not many understand that. What are your feelings on this?"

"I'm accepting the invitation," Sirius told him slowly. "I have already broken with James Potter, if that is what you are trying to ask; he has forgotten the Pureblood way. I am planning to reunite with my brother and share his happiness in his union. He sent me a picture, and he looks better than I'd ever seen him." Sirius used his wand to float the picture up in front of the portrait and the two deceased Blacks looked at it in joy. Orion soon turned from the picture of his youngest son to the one in front of him who no longer looked like the rebellious confused teenager he remembered and more like a man, a successful Auror and a confident Lord. He looked into his son's eyes, the ones identical to his own, and noticed the sadness that the breaking friendship had caused. He heard a soft sigh from his side and knew his wife had seen it too.

"Family before everything," Orion said, reciting the phrase that he had taught his sons, that his father had taught him, and that every Pureblood parent told their children. "What has James Potter done to break this, my son?" Sirius felt giddy with the last two words, his father's acknowledgment had always meant a lot to him. Orion saw a little of his mischievous son in front of him then, before Dumbledore had gotten his hooks into him and made him hate his family.

"He abandoned his youngest son in Knockturn Alley," Sirius told him, his smile at the endearment replaced with a sneer of disgust. "Harry is only seven, and James just left him in a strange place in the middle of the night! And it was Knockturn Alley, who knows what could have happened if someone had realised that the Boy-Who-Lived's twin was lying defenceless in their midst! Remus and I went back there to find him but he'd disappeared." He watched his parents closely as he said his next part. "We found a scent and followed it to an empty alley, then we tracked it back and found a Seer." Walburga looked impressed. "She told us that he was safe, and he would be happy. Regardless, Remus and I have broken all contact with the Potters, only allowing Russell to contact us. I've also told James that Russell is spending four days a fortnight with me and that is non-negotiable. I hope to teach Russell everything he needs to know as a Pureblood Heir before he leaves for Hogwarts. Russell seems quite eager to learn." Orion nodded and smiled at Sirius. Sirius smiled back.

"Muggleborns never understood Pureblood ideals," Walburga Black said as she smoothed her hands down her voluminous robes. "To us a child is a gift, a treasure for us to protect and guide and carry on our family traditions. To a Muggleborn however, a child is just a child. There used to be a class called Magical Studies, the counterpart to Muggle Studies, taught at Hogwarts but when Dumbledore became Headmaster that was the first to go." She sighed and looked distractedly around the room. "And of course all of the Muggleborns brought their beliefs that Vampires and Wereanimals were evil and thus the Beings were hunted, nearly destroyed." She visibly shook herself out of her maudlin mood and looked at Sirius. "Tell me, how is your friend Remus? I hope he is well in these turbulent times, being what he is." Sirius sighed in sorrow then shook his head.

"He is not faring so well," Sirius admitted. "He is aging so fast due to his wolf, and the times around the full moon make him so ill that he stays with me. I run with him during the moon and he is happy to see his Pack, but when Potter abandoned Harry Moony - the wolf - mourned the loss of a Pack Cub so I am fearing for him this full moon."

"Sirius," Orion said with confusion. "Werewolves are immortal. He shouldn't be aging, and the moon certainly shouldn't give him as much trouble as you are describing." Sirius gaped at his father. "Look for the journals of our ancestor Belvina Black, she was Mated to a werewolf and her writing should offer you more information." Sirius nodded and turned to Kreacher who hadn't left at all during this conversation.

"Could you find me some appropriate robes for a meal with my brother, and find the journals my father mentioned and leave them in my bedroom please Kreacher?" The elderly elf nodded and disappeared, leaving Sirius alone with his parents' portraits. "I wasn't an ideal son, I know," he said quietly. "But I'm gonna try now. I won't let the Black family fall." The two portraits nodded solemnly before smiling gently. Without a word Orion rose and nodded a goodbye to Sirius before walking out of the frame, and Walburga smiled at her eldest son and motioned from him to close the curtains.

"I expect you to visit tomorrow and tell me all about your brother and his Mate," she told him as he began to do as she asked. Sirius nodded then pulled the drapes together, putting her in darkness. Kreacher reappeared and told him everything was as he wanted it and so, thanking the elf, he walked up the stairs and into his bedroom.

* * *

Regulus was fidgeting as he sat. It was two o'clock in the afternoon, and ever since he sent the letter with Archie to his brother that morning he'd been on edge, wanting his brother to come and not disown him. He hoped that Sirius falling out with James-Paragon-of-the-Light-Potter meant that Sirius would be more open minded about Seth and Vampires and, well, everything. The rift between the two was probably caused by the Potter's treatment of Harry, Reg surmised. Sirius had very strong morals that wouldn't let him ignore the mistreatment of a child, especially one of his godsons. Regulus stood up and started pacing around the living room in an attempt to burn off the nervous energy. He so wished that the Elders had let him bring his brother into the wards around Oblitus so that Reg could show him the house they lived in but he understood their reluctance. This was a townhouse that the Elders owned in London, the one they had used for Raven's official residence so as not to get Dumbledore suspicious. Their real house was a ten minute walk away from Raven's in Oblitus Alley that Seth built himself when he found Regulus. It was large for a normal three-bed house but Seth had wanted to show Reg that Seth could provide the level of comfort that he was accustomed to as a son of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. There was a family sitting room, a guest sitting room, the kitchen and a dining room on the ground floor and a library, an entertainment room and three bedrooms on the second, along with a bathroom on each floor. Regulus (or Reg, as he was known to many) had felt at home as soon as he stepped inside, the building and the interior furnishing and decoration soothing something in him that he didn't know was hurting. It was a shame that he couldn't show Sirius what Seth had done for him, but the Elder Council were cautious about letting strangers into Oblitus. So the Elders lent them the use of the townhouse for the day, with four bedrooms, three bathrooms, one sitting room, the kitchen, dining room and a study. There was also a Potions lab in the basement for Raven. Reg was currently in the sitting room waiting.

He was interrupted in his pacing by inhumanly strong arms wrapping themselves around his waist and he leant back against his Mate. Seth was the quiet one of the pair, the responsible one who was ruled by his head whilst Reg tended not to look before he leapt (much like his older brother). Reg had changed a lot since he had left the Wizarding World; the pressures of being a Slytherin and a Black in Hogwarts, beside his Gryffindor brother, had made many in the other Houses hate him.  _One Black was normal, why couldn't the other one be too?_ Reg turned and sighed into Seth's shoulder. His calm, solid Mate. The only time Reg had known Seth to be anything but calm and aloof (when not alone with Reg) was when someone had threatened Reg himself in which case Seth's basic vampire instincts would take over and everyone was advised to run for cover. A vampire was dangerous to be around for anyone when their mate was in danger, or was thought to be in danger.

"He'll come," Seth's voice rumbled quietly in his ear. "Don't fret." Reg nodded and exhaled slowly, then moved him and his Mate to the sofa. He pushed Seth down until he was sitting comfortably, then Reg sat next to him and cuddled into Seth's side. Seth immediately put an arm around Reg's shoulders and soothed him by stroking his hair. Seth called one of two House Elves of the household to bring him a drink and, looking at his drowsy Mate, a cup of hot chocolate and the books by their bed. Plinky soon arrived with a goblet of blood warmed to body temperature and a steaming mug with chocolate shavings and a few marshmallows bobbing along the top. She handed them over to the two. Plinky had a pastel pink ribbon around her middle, a decoration to brighten up her pillowcase dress. Her partner Blinky appeared with a pop and gave each of them their reading books so that they could pass the time with reading something. Seth had brought the two from an estate auction; the previous owner's children had named them and used them as toys mostly, pulling their ears and poking them. They had been most pleased that Seth had no children at home and had settled in quickly. That was nearly twenty years ago, when he was still on his own. Before he found Reg. Every Being had a destined Mate, a Fate-Marked Soul who could provide whatever the Being needed. For Incubi and Succubae the Mate was able to give their partners the energy they required without dying as others would, for Shifters their Mates would usually have an Animagus form to allow them to run or fly with their Mates in their other forms, and Mates of Vampires tended to have more fulfilling blood; two or three mouthfuls was equivalent to drinking a pint of blood from a normal Witch or Wizard. Seth thanked his elves and as they popped away he opened his book and started to read as he drank his beverage.

The two were forced from his musings when Plinky arrived again, fiddling with her pastel blue pillowcase-dress excitedly.

"Master Regulus' brother be arriving Sir," she told them excitedly, and Seth smiled in amusement as Reg jumped up from the sofa, nearly dropping his book on the history and development of shield charms.

"Thank you Plinky, please show him to the lower sitting room and offer refreshments, we'll be down soon." The House Elf nodded and went. "And it's only three in the afternoon," he mused, before standing up to calm his frantic Mate down. Reg was resistant to all of Seth's methods until the vampire simply gave up and grabbed the wizard into a kiss, holding him tightly. Reg was dazed when Seth moved away, preferring to stare uncomprehendingly at Seth until his brain started working and he exhaled heavily. Reg then inspected his robes and flicked creases out of them, then he walked to a mirror and made sure that Seth's stroking hadn't messed up his shoulder-length waves. Two minutes later he breathed in deeply, breathed out again, and turned to face Seth.

"Let's go then," he said definitively, and Seth merely placed an arm around Regulus' waist and led him out of the room. They reached the sitting room, and Seth silently motioned Regulus in alone. Regulus smiled widely at his Mate before opening the door.

* * *

Sirius had Archimedes cradled in his arms. He'd brought the owl with him when he used the portkey, feeling sorry for the bird when it stared at him pleadingly as he was getting ready to leave. It had presented a problem about how to bring the owl as well but he had pressed the photograph-portkey to the owl's body and made sure the bird was secure in his hold before he said the activation word. Archimedes didn't seem too put out after the stomach-churning portkey journey so Sirius stopped inspecting him and instead looked around. He was stood in a stylish hallway in what he realised was a Muggle house; none of the paintings were moving, even in the landscapes you usually see trees moving in the wind or birds flying about. Two minutes after he arrived he was greeted by an Elf and shown to a lovely and cosy sitting room where he was offered a drink. He stood there drinking a glass of orange juice, further proof the house was Muggle as he would have been served pumpkin juice in a Wizarding household, and watched Archimedes preen himself as he perched on the back of a wooden chair. The room was nice, he supposed. It had one wall coloured a dark red, a feature wall he supposed. The others were a warm light brown. There were three luxurious sofas, a shade darker than the brown walls and curtains of the same shade framed a window that looked out onto a large back garden, filled with bushes and trees and a large patio area that looked like it held a barbeque. He looked his fill then turned back into the room and froze when he saw the doorway out of the corner of his eye. A non-empty doorway.

He turned all the way around and saw a near-copy of himself watching him. Archimedes saw him too and flew to his owner. Reg held his arm out for the owl to land on and Regulus stroked him a few times before looking at Sirius and grinning. Sirius felt himself immediately copy him, and Regulus walked to Sirius' side and opened the window. Archimedes, upon spotting the open window, leapt off Regulus' arm and flew outside. The two brothers then stared at each other for a minute, less than three feet away from each other. Regulus' face showed hesitation and a bit of fear, and Sirius was merely gazing at his little brother in joy at seeing him brother alive and well in front of him. Sirius managed to shake himself out of it and quickly opened his arms wide, inviting his little brother into a hug. Said brother went into them almost instantaneously and Sirius silently reassured his brother that after the eight year separation he wasn't about to let go in a hurry.

Regulus reluctantly pulled away after a few moments and inspected his brother. He'd gained more muscles over the years, a product of his job as an Auror, and he had a few more lines than he did back then but he basically looked the same. It was when he looked into his eyes that he saw the fatigue and worry and the sheer  _tiredness_  that his brother must have felt for a while. Reg led Sirius to the sofas and they both sat down.

"I missed you," Regulus said simply, and Sirius smiled widely at him.

"Me too," he said simply. He then tilted his head like a curious dog, very apt considering his animagus form. "That was a nice bit of spellwork on the tapestry. I was impressed." Regulus chuckled.

"I was always good at glamours," he said with a shrug. "That's how I've managed to stay hidden all these years whenever I went into public." Sirius knew that glamours couldn't have been all he had used to stay hidden, this house wasn't spelled well enough to be considered an adequate safehouse. But he'd allow his brother his secrets; after all, he didn't want to be the reason Regulus was found out. A slight noise from the doorway made Sirius turn his head, and there stood the other man from the photo-portkey, Regulus' Vampire. Sirius stood up to greet him, noticing that they were both about the same height, 6 foot 1, which made them bother about an inch and a half taller than Regulus. The Vampire was muscled but not overly so, giving the impression of strength. Which was justified, Sirius mused. After all, Vampires were inherently strong. He had a strong jaw and deep-set eyes and Sirius thought he looked quite intimidating.

He held out his hand and gave a lop-sided grin.

"I'm Sirius Black, Lord of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black," he said in seriousness. "Thank you for protecting my brother for these years whilst our House couldn't."

"I am Seth Lynch, and you are welcome, Lord Black," the Vampire said as he shook the offered hand. He looked over at Regulus and smirked. "It wasn't a hardship at all really; we spent most of the first year inside the bedroom and just let the house elves leave if we needed anything." Sirius let out a loud barking laugh at those words, and laughed even harder as Seth smirked at Regulus' red face.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," he pouted, and Seth walked over to him and kissed the pouty lips. Sirius closed his eyes and pointedly refused to watch until Reg laughed and told him he could look now, it was safe. The three made themselves comfortable in the sitting room and talked. Firstly Regulus, with a few words from Seth, talked about what had happened during the past eight years, their friends and their neighbours. Sirius knew that much had been left out, and he knew that the couple talking knew that he was suspicious about their story, but Sirius just gave a soft happy smile, and Regulus had grinned back. Once they'd finished a House Elf - not the one that offered Sirius the orange juice - came into the room and announced that their meal was ready and so the three adjourned to the dining room. Once there and happily eating their meal of a fish starter followed by a classic sausage casserole, Sirius told the two about getting accepted into the Auror Academy and learning from Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody. He spoke of his godsons and Remus, he told Regulus of Harry's disappearance and watched as the two showed blank masks at the news before Regulus launched into a tirade about some people undeserving of being parents. Once Regulus had finished a delicious chocolate dessert was placed in front of them and Sirius told Regulus of his plans for the Black Family, taking his seat on the Wizengamot and for increasing their finances. The Malfoys were nearly gaining on them in wealth and that just couldn't be allowed, in Sirius' opinion. Regulus just laughed.

It was well into the evening - nearing midnight - when Sirius stood up to leave. He said his goodbyes to his brother and told him that now they were in contact they had to keep writing to each other, charming all letters to only be read by the three of them. Regulus agreed happily and Seth offered to show Sirius the way to a specially-Warded fireplace connected to the Floo Network. Sirius gratefully accepted and with one last goodbye to Regulus they left Regulus in the sitting room and walked away. Seth led him into a study and they stood opposite each other, both looking directly at the other person.

"As you are Head of Reg's House I wish to ask you for your blessing," Seth told Sirius. "I wish to turn my Mate, to bond with him in all ways and I know that Regulus desires this also but I wished to do this properly. Do I have your permission to ask?" Sirius watched Seth as he spoke, saw the thinly veiled earnestness in his eyes, remembered Regulus' face in the photograph and the loving gestures between the two throughout the evening and instantly made up his mind.

"I know that my brother and I haven't spoken in eight years but I believe I know my brother's mind," he said solemnly. Seth didn't fidget but he still gave off an air of anticipation, impatience, and just a little fear. "You have my blessing and my permission. I do not know many of your customs and I will be endeavouring to learn them but is there anything else you need from me to do this?" Seth's lips twitched up at the ends.

"There will be an invitation to a gathering after the turning," Seth explained. "Almost like a wedding reception. It is your choice whether to bring gifts or not, and each guest is permitted to bring one companion." Sirius nodded and made to leave the room to say goodbye to his brother. He paused in the doorway and turned his head back towards the Vampire.

"The supposed animosity between Vampires and Werewolves, is it just a legend?" He asked for clarification, and Seth nodded. "Then you wouldn't mind if my guest was one?" Seth shook his head showing his indifference to having the shapeshifter at the gathering. "Then I thank you. It was a pleasure to meet you, and if you hurt my brother in any way then know that I am not above using pranks to make your life uncomfortable." The threat seemed childish but the expression on Sirius' face made Seth nod in respect, not wanting to know what the Black Lord could do if Regulus found Seth wanting. Sirius grinned and turned to the fireplace, quickly finding the pot of Floo Powder and Flooed to Grimmauld Place leaving behind a somewhat nervous Seth. The Vampire went back to the sitting room to find Regulus asleep on the sofa, so Seth carefully picked up his Mate and made his way upstairs. The Elders wouldn't mind them using the bedroom for the one night.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! Sorry about the sporadic updates, I'm losing track of days and weeks which is fairly common during non-term-time. Good news however, Uni starts again in three weeks! One more year then I'll be a graduate, which is kinda scary. But anyway, story updates. I've finished chapter six, nearly finished seven (I need to add one more scene) and I need to write up Chapter eight (I've got the plan all ready to go, I just need to finish seven before I can write it). Then Chapter nine and onwards might be taken from Solace in Shadow so don't worry if you recognise it, and CoS is nearly finished and PoA is planned and I'm workng on GoF. Go me!
> 
> So anyway, on with the story! I don't own Harry Potter, that belongs to JK Rowling. Oblitus Alley and most inhabitants are mine though.

 

 

Raven gathered her cloak and went into Corey's room to find his. It was nearing ten o'clock on Monday morning and she was checking that everything was ready for the meeting with Gringotts. She had the blue file with all of Corey's Muggle information in it in an expandable bag that she had shrunk and tied to her belt, ready to go. Corey was sat up to the table doing some colouring but he was also ready to leave. Raven peeked under the table and noticed he was only wearing socks. Okay, nearly ready to leave.

"Corey, go and get your shoes on please," she told him, and the green-eyed boy nodded and put his crayon down. Raven smiled as he gathered his shoes and went to sit on the sofa to put them on. She slipped into her own boots, dragonhide from a Hebridean Black, then double-checked the contents all of her belt pouches to make sure she had the folder and finally deemed herself ready. She handed Corey his winter cloak, spelled with Warming Charms and Water Repelling Charms, and threw her own black one on and secured it with a jewelled brooch in the shape of a dragon, and then crouched down in front of Corey and carefully pinned the two halves of the dark green cloak together with a little black bird brooch. Purebloods would usually hold their cloaks with a pin depicting their family crest, and half-bloods and Muggleborns of Hogwarts age used to use their house emblems, but a Muggleborn didn't like being singled out by a brooch and so she had sewn Velcro to her cloak and used that to fasten it. It became so popular amongst the Light faction that Madam Malkins started doing that to all her cloaks, and only Twilfitt and Tattings sold the unfastened cloaks, as well as having a display case of brooches and pins. Hogwarts and the Light had endorsed this change, congratulating Madam Malkin for making things easier for the Muggleborns to adapt. Raven kind of missed seeing all the different kinds of brooches people were wearing. Raven deemed Corey and herself ready, and they left the flat.

Walking around the building and emerging into the street was an eye-opener for Corey. Yesterday they had left earlier, just as the shops were beginning to open and so there weren't many people around. But now the Square was milling with people, drifting in and out of the many shops in the square. Corey hadn't been in any yet but Raven noticed the interested looks Corey was giving the shops and decided to take him around them when they got back. The Square was the centre of the Alley, where all of the shops were located. The shops in the Square were all specialised; for example, the book shop was solely all the books that the Ministry of Magic banned as being "too Dark" for the Pure Light Beings that they were, so the people classified as "creatures" stole everything that could be considered Dark before the Ministry burnt it, nearly a hundred and fifty years ago.

The Hall was the opposite side of the Square to Raven's flat, about a two minute walk away. To the left and right were two straight lines of shops of different sizes with a smaller line of shops behind them, only the bookshop and one other. A path ran along the outside, a pavement outside each shop, and the rest inside the Square was grass with eight trees dotted around. Corey was turning around in circles admiring the architecture. Raven told him that Oblitus was built by magic mostly which meant the architecture  _was_  awe-inspiring, then the two continued walking. They walked out to the border of the Alley, more of a town, really, and Corey blinked as two large men walked past large white wings tucked against their backs. They smiled and greeted Raven as they passed then gave the gapping Corey amused glances and chuckling as they walked by.

"Air Demons without their glamours," Raven murmured as they carried on. "Those two are some of the Alley Guards, they patrol the Wards and make sure there are no breaches. See what they're wearing?" Corey looked and noticed they were wearing tight-fitting trousers and vests of some type of skin, and black boots to match. "That is shed dragon hide, shed skin is very manoeuvrable so the armourer here uses it quite a bit. If I'm not mistaken the Guards wear Hungarian Horntail." She looked at the uniform for a bit longer before nodding sharply. "Yep, Horntail. Right then, off we go." She continued walking and Corey grinned before following. Reg had told Corey all about Raven's interest in dragons and this was the first time Corey had seen it in action. Soon enough they reached the brick wall that ran all around the Alley, and there was an empty black archway right in front of where they stood. They didn't need to spread blood to get out, Raven explained to Corey yesterday, so Raven merely placed a hand on Corey's shoulder and they walked into the darkness. There was an odd fluttering around them and they emerged into the old back alley in Knockturn. Many of the denizens of Knockturn nodded to the two as they left the backstreet, quite a few of them knowing where the alley led. The walk to Gringotts was peaceful, neither of them talked at all walking up Knockturn, and after ducking unnoticed into Diagon Alley Raven only made a comment that she needed a new journal and some more ink, she'd run out last night. Soon Gringotts loomed above them, towering and slightly slanted, and they walked inside. They'd made good timing, Raven thought, consulting the pocket watch attached to the inside of her heavy winter cloak. They entered the bank at twenty-seven minutes past ten, and this time instead of being in a teller's booth Crackjaw was waiting for them just inside the door. Raven and he exchanged greetings then he escorted them into the same room they'd used last time. This time Corey noticed the name plaque on the door proclaiming this to be Crackjaw's office.

"Do you have the files?" Crackjaw asked once they were all seated comfortably. Raven handed them over and the goblin examined them closely. "They are very good," he told them. "I wouldn't know that they were fake." He pressed a rune on his desk and half a minute later another goblin, this one noticeably less lined than Crackjaw so Corey guessed he was a lot younger, came into the room and collected the file before leaving. "He will take the files to the Ministry liaison inside the bank who will then issue the papers." He explained, and Raven nodded. The goblin withdrew a little black pouch from under his large wooden desk. "For little Master Blake, spelled with anti-theft charms and hexes and linked to a vault created to the agreed specifications. The cost of which has been taken from your personal vault, Miss Blake."

"Thank you Crackjaw," Raven said with a smile, taking the pouch from him and handing it to Corey. Corey then tied the pouch to a little hoop on his trousers. "It has been a pleasure making this transaction with you." The goblin simply nodded.

"The papers should be along in about ten minutes," he told them, and Corey was impressed at the speed of it. When James had come to get Russell named as the Potter heir it had taken almost an hour for the papers to go through the Ministry.

"Sometimes the goblins will speed these things up or slow them down, depending on whether they like the client." Raven said matter-of-factly when Corey brought it up. Crackjaw grinned, and Corey fought the urge to shudder. With those teeth no smile wouldn't look threatening. "In general the Light are treated to long waits whereas the Dark and Beings are sped up a bit." Before Corey could ask a question someone stepped in the door.

"This was started because the Light started waiting outside and signalling whenever a suspected Being walked in. Making things faster for the Beings meant the Light had less time to gather a group to take the Being." The person speaking was the young goblin who had left with the file earlier. "The papers, Manager Crackjaw," he said with a slight bow, holding out a familiar file. "It has been confirmed that Corey Blake is indeed in the Hogwarts Book of Names and therefore has the right to be labelled as a Wizarding Citizen."

"Thank you Grabloop," Crackjaw said as he received the file. He opened it up and checked the contents before handing it over to Raven. Inside along with the original Muggle documents were several pieces of parchment with the Ministry and Gringotts seals that marked their authenticity. Raven nodded in acceptance of the work and put the file of papers back into the large pouch.

"Thank you for the prompt conclusion to our business," Raven told the two goblins, standing up as she did so. "It has been most fruitful. Good day to you both." At the goblin's goodbyes the two Blakes left the room and the bank.

"Would it be okay if I nipped into Scrivenshafts?" Raven checked with the boy by her side, and said boy nodded. They quickly ducked in and picked up two wells of black ink and Raven figured she had enough money for a fairly expensive Never-Ending Journal, a book that continually inserted new pages so that you never ran out. Raven then brought a few new quills in case, then decided maybe two inkwells weren't enough and brought two more. Twenty minutes later they were out, Raven's purchases in her ever-present pouches and walking down Diagon Alley towards their home. However almost as soon as they left the stationary shop they heard whispers starting from the Leaky Cauldron, and the entire Alley was soon murmuring. Raven heard the words being spoken and exhaled in weariness, and Corey started biting his lip.

" _The Potters are here!_ "

" _The Potters in Diagon Alley, my word!_ "

" _Oh my, there's Russell Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived!_ "

" _Do you think I can get an autograph?_ "

" _Oh Merlin, here they come!_ "

Corey discretely shook his head when Raven looked at him, signalling that he didn't want to leave. Raven just sighed and nodded, and they stood outside the shop and waited. When the Potters came into view Corey only had eyes for his twin, whereas Raven watched the two who had been callous enough to abandon a child on Christmas Eve. It had been four days since Raven had found him and in those four days Raven couldn't think of any sane reason why they would just leave a sleeping child in an abandoned alley in the middle of winter, so she watched the two adult Potters for any answer to her question. As they drew closer, she found none. The two looked happy though, waving and talking to their adoring fans in the Alley. Lily Potter had long red curls and sparkling green eyes, and she was wearing a set of robes a few shades lighter than her eyes. To Raven's amusement though Corey's eyes were a few shades darker, emerald as compared to Lily's grass-green. James was tall, towering over Lily and she was wearing three-inch Muggle high heels. Raven had often heard of him as 'the heartthrob of the Auror Office', with messy black hair and chocolate-coloured eyes. He had the traditional high cheekbones and sharp features of a Pureblood but he was wearing a Muggle suit under a plain black cloak shaped like a Muggle coat. That was another fashionable item coming in from the Muggleborns; a light coat-like cloak that had sleeves and a hood but no fastenings down the middle, such as a zip or buttons, and it reached the wearer's ankles. Raven looked down at her simple black trousers, dark purple blouse and black cloak and Lily's jeans and t-shirt with a long button-up coat. Looking at the people watching Raven noticed many elderly Witches and Wizards were frowning at the Potters and shaking their heads.

Russell Potter was walking between his parents, looking like he wanted to run away but forced by his parents to stay in the centre. He was wearing plain black trousers much like Corey and Raven, and had on a dark red shirt under a cloak identical to his father's. James and Lily were still playing to the crowd, enjoying their popularity. A glance at Corey showed sorrow and sympathy for his twin. When the Potters went into Flourish and Blotts Corey gently tugged on Raven's hand, wanting to follow. Raven scanned the crowd and when she was satisfied that no-one was following the Potters into the bookshop she led Corey into the shop. Raven went to the counter to enquire on any new acquisitions, and let Corey disappear as he wanted.

The black-haired boy immediately headed to the Quidditch section, a section he knew that Russell loved, and crept around a bookcase to see if anyone was there. Luckily for him Russell was there, and James or Lily were nowhere in sight. Russell looked pale, and he was moving sluggishly like every little move hurt him. Corey stepped forward and looked at the Quidditch books too, ignoring Russell like he knew his twin preferred. He picked out a book that he'd always wanted to read but James wouldn't let him, then turned to Russell again. His eyes were watering, and his shoulders were slumped in defeat.

"You shouldn't be so sad this close to New Years," Corey said quietly. "If you cry on New Year you'll be crying for the entire year." With that Corey quickly walked away. A quick check around the bookcase showed a slightly shell-shocked Russell, who then shook his head as if to clear it and went back to scanning books, albeit with a less gloomy look on his face. Corey considered it a success that he'd cheered Russell up a bit and walked back to Raven. They quickly left the shop and so missed when Russell Potter sped to the front of the shop in confusion, having realised that what the boy had said was something Harry had said before.

Raven and Corey walked speedily back through Knockturn and to Oblitus, only slowing down when Raven spread her bloodied palm over the entrance to the hidden Alley and they slipped through the warded gateway. A few minutes later the two were approaching the main square of Oblitus, and Raven smiled.

"How do you feel about looking around the shops?" She asked the young boy beside her, and he looked at her with a grin.

"Can we?" He said eagerly, and Raven merely laughed before ushering him to the shop nearest to the Hall of Elders and to the left. This was a dark and dusty shop that was filled with old pieces of furniture and other various knickknacks. Corey walked around in awe as Raven smiled and walked over to a display case of jewellery. Corey drifted all around the shop finding old weapons and paintings and an old wooden desk engraved with a vine and leaf pattern laden with old lamps. Corey found a cabinet displaying knives, some ornamental and some practical, next to a wall rack filled with swords. There was an entire wall filled with the antique weapons, and Corey browsed them for nearly ten minutes before he walked away to find Raven. The teen was at the counter paying for a black pendant and necklace when he arrived, and soon they were out of the shop and into the next one. This one sold clothes, much like Madam Malkin's, but these were usually spelled with growing charms, temperature regulation charms and protection charms. Some of them were Dark, and the owner sometimes used Blood Magic, outlawed by the Ministry nearly fifty years ago, to provide more personalised protections. The next unit was home to a tea shop, and Raven bypassed that one explaining that they could visit it for their lunch after they'd finished with the rest of the Square, as some of the locals called it. The last shop in that row had boarded up windows, but Raven grinned and walked them over to it. She opened the door and a bell above them sounded a  _ting_ , but that was quickly lost in the din that erupted when Corey entered the shop.

_A pet shop!_ was Corey's delighted mental exclamation as he took in the cages and crates and perches that filled the shop space. There was a pen filled with kneazle kittens, a cat-like creature with spotted fur, large ears and a tufted tail like a lion. Next to them in an identical pen were crup puppies, looking like Muggle Jack Russell Terriers except for the forked tails they supported. On the opposite wall from the furry pets were the feathered ones, perches full of owls and falcons and Corey even spotted a little blue jobberknoll, sitting silently alongside the raucous birds. Corey could only imagine what the tiny bird's death-scream would be. At the back of the shop was a small counter with a cash register, but either side of it were tanks and aquariums filled with a multitude of strangely silent animals. One tank was full of small brown snakes, whereas the next one had snakes identical to it but in green.

"Boomslangs," Raven stated from behind him, and Corey gave a little jump. "The green are males, the brown females. A Muggle reptile but their skin is used in quite a few Potions including Polyjuice. The owner, Marius, tends to give me a discount if I need any, one of the perks of being the Ward of the Elders."

"And you were a cute kid, always coming in here and helping out, desperately hoping that the Elders would give you a pet for your next birthday." Corey jumped for the second time as Raven stuck her tongue out childishly at the Vampire that stood behind her. He looked younger than Carl, perhaps about Raven's age of nineteen, twenty, but Corey knew that physical age meant nothing in Oblitus.

"Shut it Mary," Raven said petulantly, and Corey wandered over to the next tank. This one was covered in frost, and inside he could just barely see three red eggs glowing faintly under the ice.

"Ashwinder eggs," Marius murmured from behind him, and Corey looked back at Raven and saw her glaring at Marius, whereas the Vampire had a look of smug amusement on his face. "Very dangerous if not frozen quickly." He straightened and smirked at Raven. "Are you here for a pet now Raven, or just browsing like you do every week?" He looked vaguely mocking as he looked at the half-demoness. She just glared harder.

"We're just looking," she mumbled, and Corey hid a grin as Raven looked longingly at the corner where the kneazles and crups were kept. Corey looked at the other tanks, seeing magical cousins to adders and boa constrictors, but no other animals caught his eye. He spotted more cages behind a curtain, where Marius must have come from since he wasn't in the shop when the two stepped inside, but as Corey was about to head into the room a hand grabbed him and stopped him going further.

"That's where all my exotics are kept," Marius told Corey jovially, but his hand was a steel trap on Corey's shoulder. "They're a mite bit dangerous for a youngling like you." Corey looked up at him and, seeing the seriousness in his eyes, nodded and walked back to Raven. The female looked around and sighed wistfully, then shook herself (almost like a cat) and looked back at Corey.

"I think we're done here," she said airily, and Marius simply looked at her fondly before escorting the two out.

"Be seeing you then," he said with a grin, showing fangs, and Raven ignored as she left. Corey gave a wave and followed Raven as she crossed over to the shop that was under Raven's flat. The book shop was huge, was Corey's initial impression. The owner had managed to fit a lot of books into the space, and he saw a sign proclaiming there to be more books in the cellar with an arrow pointing to the stairs. Raven smiled at Corey and told him that she'd be looking a while before she disappeared into the stacks. Corey merely grinned and walked away from the teenage bookworm. Not that he could throw stones since he liked to read too. He walked further into the shop and inspected the titles. The shop was quite dark but since sunlight damaged some of the very old books in the shop Corey wasn't surprised that the windows were boarded up and covered by bookcases.

Corey had grown a little bored after half-an-hour and so amused himself by reading one of the titles he'd just brought from the grey-haired shopkeeper using his new allowance, something he'd never had before. The old man had proceeded to suggest a few more titles he had that fitted in with the beginner Magical Theory texts he'd picked up. He was sticking to the theory now since he was still too young for a wand. He also found an uncensored book on the history of Magical Britain (the ones censored by the Ministry contained nothing on the ongoing 'war' between the Ministry and the Beings), and another book on the history of all the Magical communities in the world. He sat on one of the chairs the shopkeeper had placed around the shop and read  _The Role of Beings in History_ written by an Incubus in the 1950's. 15 minutes later Raven made her presence known by clearing her throat and the two walked out, waving to the shopkeeper as they passed. They turned left out of the shop and walked into a shop with a sign proclaiming 'Gem's Gems'. Raven introduced Corey to 'Gem', a Muggleborn Witch with the name Gemma who was the Mate to an Incubus. Apparently she'd had no problems accepting the darker side of magic and embraced Enchanting - a form of magic that used gemstones and other minerals as hosts for protection spells, invisibility spells and even curses, though Gem glared violently at Corey for asking about them. She had a few books next to the counter explaining about Enchanting but she and Raven both claimed that the half-Demoness had those books and other, better, ones so Corey left empty-handed. As they left Raven explained that a gemstone could be dipped into certain potions to enhance or nullify any spells put onto it, and potions were used regularly in curse-breaking for that specific purpose.

Raven then walked Corey over to the last stretch of shops but they didn't go in. The sign outside one described 'Quality Metalwork - Weapons, Armour and Jewellery made to order' which Raven said was owned by three siblings - Fire Demons - who were blacksmiths in their time and carried on those skills today. Spells for shielding and strength were incorporated into the forging process to make the effects permanent and harder to break. The shop used to be three separate ones until the siblings each brought one and conjoined them into one rather large shop. The shop next to it sold wooden weapons; bows, arrows and staves being the dominant weapons on sale but the owners could make other, more exotic pieces. They also whittled furniture once in a while but didn't do it regularly enough to warrant a separate shop for the wares; they were usually displayed in the back of the shop on the rare occasion that one was made.

After Raven showed all this to Corey the two headed back to Kalei's Café, a double unit with large windows which meant the inside of the shop was flooded with light. The door was wedged open, letting the air in, but when Corey stepped inside there was none of the biting December cold that he could feel outside. The decor was homely, Corey thought as he looked around. The walls were covered in a light coloured wood with the floor covered in a darker wood. The tables and chairs were also wooden; oak, Corey guessed, and they were quite chunky and sturdy. There were potted plants scattered throughout - there were colourful plants on the tables and trees were placed along the walls.

Raven led Corey past all the larger tables, mostly surrounded by four or six chairs, but some were clearly big enough for eight, and they proceeded towards the back of the shop where there were smaller tables with only two chairs seated around each. The café had only a handful of customers, Corey noted as he copied Raven in taking his cloak off and placing it on the back of his chair. There were three families, one had three children and the others had two children each, and four couples.

"Kalei is an Earth Demon," Raven said conversationally as they walked to a beverage bar along the back wall full of food. "Hence all the wood and the foliage. She also makes the most delicious shortbread I've ever tasted." Just as she said that a plump dark-skinned woman emerged from a door behind the bar and gave a mirthful chuckle.

"There's no reason to flatter me young lady, I'm not giving you any free food," she said with laughter in her eyes. Raven grinned, prompting Corey to think that they'd probably had this conversation before. The woman, who Corey guessed was Kalei, was wearing an apron with multicoloured flowers on the fabric, partially obscured by flour and a dark powder that Corey rather thought was cocoa powder.

"I wouldn't beg free food now Kalei," Raven replied. "I earn enough to actually buy them now." Kalei chuckled again and Raven looked around. She chose a ham roll from, a slice of chocolate cake and two shortbread biscuits. Signs around the food stated that everything had been freshly baked earlier that morning. "No matter how much I bake I can never make my shortbread as buttery as yours," Raven said with a pout, prompting the Earth Demoness to chuckle heartily.

"When you've been baking for as long as I have young lady, then you'll make as delicious as mine," she replied, and Corey picked out his food. Raven picked up two fruit drinks (homemade from home-grown fruit), paid their bill and the two went back to their table. It was only after the seven-year-old had taken a few bites of his delicious food that he realised that the children in the dinner were the first children he'd seen in the Alley so far.

"With the fear that some people have nowadays," Raven replied to the question of why he hadn't seen any until today, "most first-time parents tend to keep their children inside and away from anyone in case they report them to the Ministry and they are all killed. The ones who trust the Elders and those that have had more than one child grow up safely let their kids run around the Alley, but only the older, more powerful Beings let their kids out of the Alley, and even then they accompany the kid and make them stick like glue to the parent. The Elders didn't start letting me out of the Alley until I received my Hogwarts Letter unless it was somewhere outside of Britain and there were three of them with me." Corey was shocked, and his face showed it. "After my parents disappeared there was a whisper that the Magicals who caught them knew they had a child, so the Elders were understandably cautious. They made sure that I looked like a Muggleborn with two parents still alive and living in the centre of London, far away from where my parents were found in Newcastle. I didn't come into my Demon abilities until I turned 17 and by then I was established as a Muggleborn, top of my class in Charms and Potions, good in Herbology but average at everything else. No-one thought anything of it if I acted differently, especially since it was NEWT year."

"Who were your real parents?" Corey asked after a few minutes of silent chewing. "If it's okay," the seven-year-old asked. Raven finished her mouthful of chocolate cake before replying.

"My mother was a Pureblood witch," she said carefully. "And my father was a Shadow Demon. I don't think you should know anything else, otherwise if someone ever said their names and saw that you recognised them you'd be under suspicion from the Light." The two finished their food in silence before clearing their table and making their way home, although not before Raven had tried getting Kalei to share her shortbread recipe and, after failing, brought five more shortbread biscuits.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, back again. Firstly, thank you to everyone who has reviewed and 'kudo'sed and favourited and followed, except for the guest on Fanfiction.net who complained about the apparent incest in the story (?). Anyway, Uni has now started and since it's my last year I'm probably gonna be a bit busy but I will try and get at least a chapter out a month, two if I make and more if I get the inspiration. Chapter Eight should be done in a week or so, and Year One would come along quickly after that. I'm getting into the flow of things I think. So enjoy Chapter Six and let me know what you think.
> 
> Also, feel free to add me as a friend on Facebook (NightLark Fanfiction) and I can keep you posted on Chapters and answer your questions and even send you a PDF version of the original (unfinished) Solace in Shadows, all 25 chapters of it. It might give you a general direction of where this fic is going but I will be changing major parts of it. Anyways, goodbye and enjoy!

Later that day Raven sent a piece of specially-charmed parchment through the Floo to Reg and Seth's house, containing an invitation to dinner. The two appeared shortly before the meal was to be served, the younger of the couple bouncing on his heels in glee. Raven had looked at Reg a bit strangely but took it all in stride, and all four sat down to enjoy the meal. The four talked about inconsequential things as they ate, and although Reg was fidgeting in eagerness to tell the two something he never did, and merely listened as Raven and Corey described their day and what they'll be doing to prepare to leave for their round-the-world adventures. After a slice of chocolate gateaux for dessert Reg couldn't hold it in any longer and ushered them all over to the sofas and made them get comfortable.

"Sirius came over yesterday!" He said in an explosion of words, and the shocked expressions on the faces of the two youngest was enough to make even the normally-stoic Seth laugh loudly. The two soon closed their mouths and stopped looking like they were trying to catch flies, but Raven's eyes were still wide and Corey still looked eager for news on his surrogate uncle. "I sent him a letter yesterday morning and I hoped he would get it before yesterday lunch which he would have done if he was staying at Grimmauld, and he was! He was over in the mid afternoon and we talked  _all_  afternoon and  _way_  into the evening! And-" his voice dropped to a whisper and he leant forward, closer to the other two. "And he accepted me and Seth! He even gave his blessing for Seth to turn me!" Reg grinned brightly, and Raven looked at Seth in something akin to fright.

"Is he high?" She mock-whispered, and Seth's lips twitched. "I have Sobering Draughts if he is. He's too happy!" Corey couldn't hold it in and he started laughing, the boy soon reduced to gasps on the floor. Reg looked at the seven-year-old in surprise before smiling sheepishly. "It's brilliant that he accepted you both, it really it," Raven said with a smile, and Reg beamed back. Corey managed to calm down and was helped back onto the sofa, and he turned to Reg with a pleading look on his face.

"How is he?" He asked Reg, and the man smiled reassuringly at him.

"He's missing you greatly," the boy was told. "He and your Uncle Remus searched up and down Knockturn Alley on Christmas morning trying to find you. They eventually smelt you and one other," here Raven looked interested, "but when you both seemingly disappeared into a brick wall they traced the unknown scent back to a potions shop and met a Seer." Corey looked confused but Raven grinned. "She told them that you were safe, and will remain so, and would be happy. She also told them that they wouldn't be kept out of Harry's new life." Corey smiled slightly, and Raven nodded. They moved onto less serious topics and soon it was time for Corey's bedtime, and the seven-year-old held back copious yawns as he bid Reg and Seth good night. He used the bathroom whilst Raven made sure his bed was made and soon Corey was in his pyjamas tucked up in bed. Raven sat next to him on the bed but made no attempt to pick up the book on the bedside table next to her, making Corey frown in confusion.

"How are you feeling?" Raven asked quietly, and as Corey opened his mouth to give the standard 'I'm fine' she held up her hand to stop him. Corey looked up and saw Raven's seriousness, as well as a hint of concern. "It's only been four days and I know that you don't see me as your sister at all yet, but I hope that you can tell anything that's on your mind." Corey ducked his head and bit his lip in nervousness, but Raven stayed by his side waiting for his answer.

"I feel upset," he said quietly, without lifting his gaze from the bedcovers, and he felt Raven shift to a more comfortable position before stilling and listening. "Russell looked sad and lonely. But I feel happy, because Uncle Padfoot and Uncle Moony tried looking for me. But then I feel sad again because they miss me too, and I miss them but I'm having so much fun here and it's been so much better! I feel very... guilty," the boy murmured, and Raven smiled sadly.

"Why do you feel guilty?" she asked, her voice as quiet as Corey's.

"Because I miss Russell and Uncle Moony and Uncle Padfoot, but I like being around you and Reg and Seth and I don't want to feel ungrateful," he said, repeating a word that his mother had regularly used to describe him. Raven sighed.

"Seth, Reg and I aren't trying to take their places, and however much you enjoy it here we know that Russell and your Uncles will have places in your hearts that we could never hope to reach. You don't need to feel guilty or ungrateful for not liking us as much as them. I imagine they're hard to compete with, I mean the Marauders are legendary at Hogwarts!" Corey chuckled as Raven hoped he would. "And, how do you feel about us leaving so soon? I mean, we're dragging you all across the world to teach you things, but I understand that you're old enough to make your own decision on this." Corey began to really think about it.

"I think it'll be exciting," he said decisively after a few minutes. "I really enjoy learning, and Russell would tell me everything he'd learnt every day from his lessons because I really wanted to know everything! And now I get to learn stuff that not even Uncle Moony will know!" His eyes were wide at that thought, and Raven laughed.

"I'm glad," she said, and she reached for the book. "One chapter only tonight, it's getting late." Raven read one chapter of 'The Magician's Nephew' before kissing a very drowsy Corey on the forehead and leaving the room, switching off the light as she went and leaving Corey alone with the glowing constellations on the ceiling. Raven quietly closed the door and looked over at the couple on the sofa. Reg and Seth were talking quietly and in low tones as she pulled on shoes and an over-robe, checked that her wand was still in its holder still straight tightly to her left forearm. Reg hugged her goodbye as she made her way to the fireplace, and Seth nodded a farewell as she threw the green powder into the flames and called her destination of 'Sangre'.

"Good, you are on time," came Carl's voice from behind his desk. "Shane and Isa are already below in the club. Once you have finished I would be much obliged if you would donate some blood to the club tonight, we are running a bit low. Excuse me if I don't walk you down, I have paperwork to do." With that the Vampire ignored her and the scratching of a quill was heard. Raven glared at him before walking out of the office and into the hallway. This time she turned left out of the doors and then turned left into another set of double doors, these ones leading to a set of stairs. Raven walked down them slowly, taking her time before seeing the Vampires. She knew their flirting was innocent and playful, but it still made her uncomfortable.

The club itself was a huge underground room, made by Carl nearly three hundred years ago as a meeting room for the inhabitants of the Alley. As the number of inhabitants grew he decided to build up and twenty years ago converted the main room into a nightclub. It was huge; there was a stage along one side for any live acts Carl deemed good enough to perform, as well as a bar, a rather large dance floor and some tables dotted around the outside of the room. Then there were the private rooms. These were used mainly for vampires and their donors, although some Incubi and Succubae and their lovers made use of the rooms. The music was loud but not uncomfortable as Raven descended into the club, where she then proceeded to scan the space looking for two particular Vampires. She found one straight away, her stark white hair standing out in the darkened room, which was only illuminated by strobe lights. Raven, having found one, started to look for the other for a few moments until a smooth voice behind her had her jumping out of her skin.

"You seem so tentative, like you were when we first met you," came a deep voice, and Raven saw the blonde female turn around and spot Raven. Raven could see the approaching Vampire frown as she saw Raven suppress a small shiver as the one behind her put a hand on her shoulder. "Carl wasn't lying then," the Vampire behind her murmured as he released Raven, and then the female Vampire reached them and grabbed Raven's hand.

"This way, Carl reserved us a booth," she said happily, and she dragged Raven to an empty table as the male Vampire followed them silently. First the blonde slid onto the rounded bench, then she pulled at Raven and made the young Demoness sit to the left to her, and the male gracefully slid in on Raven's left. Raven looked up at the two Vampires and, after a familiar fleeting annoyance that she was the shortest of the bunch, looked back down again.

"We apologise," Shane, the male Vampire, said softly. "We realise now that we might have gone over the top with our innuendos."

"No, it's just me," Raven murmured. She'd seen others not even blush when the Vampire couple flirted with them, and she felt like a little child compared to the centuries-old Beings either side of her. It didn't help that she'd spent most of her teen years hiding alone at Hogwarts as to not draw attention to herself which meant that she was painfully shy, and the couple's actions was most overwhelming.

"It's okay Ray, we admit that we were in the wrong," Isa, the female, said with a soothing smile. "And we're sorry that you felt you had to avoid us afterwards. But please can we renew the link? It's fading quickly, and I want to make sure that I can feel if you're okay. I've gotten used to having you in my head." The Vampiress grinned widely yet pleadingly, and Raven gave a little smile.

"Okay then," she said softly, and Isa gently picked up Raven's hand and brought the wrist to her mouth. Shane took Raven's other hand in his and simply held it, his silent way of apologising to Raven, and Raven squeezed it in forgiveness just as Isa quickly sunk her teeth into Raven's wrist. Raven had met Shane and Isa when she was eight, when Carl asked the pair to take Raven on as a regular donor to form a blood-bond. As Isa had explained it to the young Raven Vampires have a slight telepathic link with their donors that began in the Middle Ages when Master Vampires would kidnap rival Master's donors in order to weaken them, the link was then used to find the donors and therefore the Vampire that had taken them. Isa took only four mouthfuls before carefully running her tongue over the two fang-marks and sealing each one. Raven then turned to Shane who flashed her a quick grin before lowering his head to her right wrist, the one he still held, and bit. Raven could only see his nut-brown hair as he fed, again just four mouthfuls, before healing the bites and bringing his head up to watch Raven carefully. The girl grinned slightly, so Shane gathered her into a hug and Isa copied him, encasing her between the couple.

"We truly think of you only as our treasured little sister," Shane murmured, and Raven put her head onto his shoulder and smiled. "No matter what we say or how we say it, your virtue is safe from us." Raven then broke into a blush, and Shane and Isa, upon smelling the blood rushing to her cheeks, started laughing. Raven merely glared at the two before pushing Shane off the bench and walking away. She nearly ran up the stairs as she could feel Shane and Isa's amusement in her head, before the temporary bond (on her side) disappeared. The donor had a bond with the Vampires they feed but it only exists for a few minutes as compared to the longer-lasting bond on the Vampire's side.

Raven reached the offices and looked in on Carl, who then gestured to Raven to follow him into the donation room. Raven had managed to control her blush by then but the smirk on Carl's face told her that he could still smell the excess blood. They made their way to the room in question and Amy was just finishing up with an Earth Demon who was donating. Raven and Carl said hello before Amy grinned and hooked Raven up, and Raven again cringed and looked away as the needles pierced her skin. The Earth Demon smiled in sympathy before Amy took the needle out of his arm, and gave Raven a cheery wink as he left with a goodbye to Carl.

"I trust Shane and Isa contained themselves?" Carl said once the Demon had disappeared, and Raven turned to him.

"They seemed to have been told I was uncomfortable being around them," she said to the Elder. "Did you threaten them with something?"

"Of course not," Carl's voice and face were emotionless so Raven couldn't tell if he was lying or telling the truth. "Your troubles are your own and it is not my place to interfere."

"Liar," Amy said under her breath so that only the Vampire next to her could hear. "You've been meddling ever since she came to you, it's just that Raven doesn't notice." Raven never noticed the small smirk that found its way onto Carl's face either.

When Raven was perched on the verge of feeling lightheaded Amy withdrew the needle and checked to make sure she was well enough to go home, then Carl escorted Raven back to his office. He bid Raven goodnight before she Flooed home, where she stayed awake long enough to see Reg and Seth home through the Floo and brush her teeth before she went to bed.

* * *

Lord Sirius Orion Black III exited the Floo at Potter Manor and strode from the Reception Room. Russell had sent a message through the House Elf Pop asking his godfather to get him away from the house because he didn't want to face his parents today lest he do something drastic and damaging. He strode to the Family Dining Room, where the Potters were likely to be eating breakfast and stormed through the doors where he came face-to-face with a shocked James Potter and a quietly hopeful Russell, eager to leave his parents' vicinity.

"I will need to borrow my godson for the morning," he said coldly, and James glared and opened his mouth to reply. "Since you have sent my Heir Merlin-knows-where I need to take Russell to Gringotts to have him named the Black Heir. Just be lucky I am not going to press charges for the kidnapping of my original Heir." James paled and let Sirius pass, and the Black Lord gestured to Russell to follow. The child quickly finished off his bacon and ran after his godfather. Once they were in the Floo Room Sirius motioned for Russell to go first and told him to Floo to Grimmauld Place. He quickly complied and Sirius soon followed. He found Russell safe and waiting for him on the other side and so Sirius walked into the Family Sitting Room and dropped onto a sofa. Russell looked around nervously until Sirius lifted up his arm and beckoned. Russell wasted no time in running to his godfather and cuddling into his side.

"Were you serious?" He murmured after a few minutes of cuddling. "Are you stopping Harry from being your Heir?"

"No," Sirius murmured back. "Harry is staying my Heir no matter what. But it gave me an excuse to get you out, and it will give me many more opportunities to get you out of that house to 'train you into being a proper Black Heir'." He made quotation marks with his fingers at the last few words, and the seven-year-old beamed at him. "Well then, let us get to Gringotts, I wish to ask Gobnuk some questions." The two gathered cloaks and shoes, something Sirius made sure he had plenty of in Russell's and Harry's sizes, and they left through the Floo. They Flooed to the Leaky Cauldron and made the short walk to the Wizarding Bank. Sirius led Russell to the lobby and past the tellers and through the door at the back of the bank. Rapping sharply on a door labelled 'Gobnuk, Account Manager' Sirius and Russell were promptly let in where a Goblin with a small smattering of hair was waiting for them behind the desk.

"Lord Black, sir," the Goblin said slowly. "How may I help you?"

"My Heir Harry James Potter has been abandoned and is at present going by a different name. I wish to know whether his name has been changed legally at Gringotts and at the Ministry?" The Goblin sneered, but finally spoke after staring at Sirius for a while.

"His name has been changed legally and in all ways," was the reply.

"I don't suppose you would tell me what it is," Sirius said hopefully, but all he got was another sneer in reply. "I thought not, but it was worth a try," he said a grin, then his face turned serious. "Well then, I wish to change my named Heir to Harry's new name, but please file the paperwork someplace where no-one will see it, not even me, and place a false document naming Russell as my Heir with the rest of my paperwork. Can that be done?" The Goblin inspected him again, and this time Sirius started fidgeting, not used to being studied so closely.

"For a price," the Goblin said finally, and Sirius grinned at the Goblin. This time, the Goblin grinned back, even if it was barely noticeable.

* * *

Reg was nervous, something he hadn't been in nearly eight years since he'd said yes to running away with Seth. Waiting outside the Hall of Elders was daunting and Reg was fidgeting almost every minute, either fiddling with his hands or moving his weight from one foot to another, or any other small, inane gesture that showed how uncomfortable he was. Soon the doors opened, and a demon he recognised as Amon walked out and beckoned him in.

"Regulus Arcturus Black, Mate of Seth Edward Lynch, Vampire." A Vampire several centuries older than his lover stood up and acknowledged Reg. "What would you ask of us Mister Black?"

"I would ask for permission to know all of Raven and Corey's intended destinations for the next few years," Reg said slowly, tentatively. "I would like to give the list to my brother as suggestions of training for Russell." The nine Elders were emotionless, and Reg sighed in near-defeat. "Corey is... unhappy," he said haltingly, trying to find the right words. "Raven knows it, and she doesn't know how to make him feel better. So I thought that giving my brother the list and having Russell there, letting them make friends, might make him happier." Reg stood there, waiting, as the Elders looked at each other at his words. Reg took the time to build up his mask, the one that his parents and most other Purebloods used, a mask of blank patience. Soon one of the female Elders left the room and reappeared after a few minutes, carrying a scroll of parchment tied with a royal blue ribbon.

"Here is the list," she told Reg, handing the scroll to him. "It has their destinations, when they will be there and how long for, and who they will be learning it from." She stared at Reg closely. "I remember when Seth brought you here to announce you as his Mate, and my Raven speaks very highly of you. Do with this," she tapped the scroll with one finger, "what you will, but if any harm comes to my child or the prophesied one because of you and this information, there is nowhere you can hide." The female stared at him with hard eyes before she turned away and made her way back to her seat, directly to Carl's right, and when Reg looked at the Vampire he got the same stony gaze, and knew he was dismissed. He bowed to the Elders and thanked them for their time before he turned and left the room, scroll in hand. Outside the Hall he found his Mate waiting for him, and Reg went eagerly into his arms.

It was several minutes before Reg had calmed his heart rate, and a murmured "they're scary" was Seth's only clue as to what had made Reg so clingy. He merely chuckled and held Reg tighter, before the wizard sighed in contentment and pulled away.

"I'm off to London," Reg said, looking at Seth, and Seth smiled softly. "I'll use my glamour stone, I just need to go into Knockturn Alley and I can disapparate from there. I'll be safe," he said beseechingly, and Seth kissed him on his forehead and smiled.

"Go ahead, I'll be at home when you get back. You know how to use the stone to contact me?" Seth asked, putting a hand just underneath Reg's throat, where an opal stone was dangling from a thin strip of leather.

"I do, and I remember how to use the Portkey," Reg said with a reassuring smile, and Seth kissed Reg again.

"Have fun," the Vampire said finally, and Reg placed a finger on the stone and soon a non-descript young man with dirty-blonde hair and murky brown eyes stood in his place. His clothes were plain grey trousers, a brown shirt and simple brown boots under a black cape.

"Love you," Reg said. He kissed his Mate on the cheek and walked hurriedly away to Knockturn. Once he'd passed the Wards he quickly disapparated and went from a deserted alley in Knockturn Alley to a deserted alley in Muggle London. Reg started walking but he also paid attention to what had changed since he had last walked down this road. Not much, he admitted. The streetlights had been updated, and Reg was sure that the road had been repaved, there were less potholes than there were last time. Reg soon stopped walking outside a terraced house, one that was covered in every Ward bar the Fidelius, and breathed in deeply. He stared at the door for a while, trying to gather the courage to walk to the door. It took him nearly five minutes but he did it. He walked up the steps and knocked three times on the door of 12 Grimmauld Place. In seconds someone was answering the door, and when greeted by the sight of an elderly man in a smart black suit Reg just smiled and said hello.

"Hello Kreacher," he said with a grin, and the look of shock on the man's face was quite comical. Reg stepped inside, the wards of the house accepting him, and touched the stone around his neck. As soon as his glamour dropped so did Kreacher's, the elderly butler glamour gone leaving Kreacher's true House-Elf form in its place. Kreacher still wore the look of shock that the butler did, and it was only when Reg knelt down and hugged the Elf did Kreacher snap out of it.

"Master Regulus is being back! Master Orion, Mistress Walburga, Master Sirius," he yelled at the portrait of a sleeping woman at the bottom of the stairway, "Master Regulus is being back!" Suddenly the portrait awoke, and the look of joy on her face brought tears to Regulus' eyes. There was a thundering down the stairs as Sirius appeared at the bottom, seemingly having run from whatever room he was in, and Siri grinned.

"Reggie!" He cried, and Reg was grabbed in a hug. "You're lucky you didn't come half an hour earlier, Russell was here. As it was I had to return him for lunch." There was a look a cross between a frown and a pout on his older brother's face, and Reg grasped his shoulder. Then a voice reverberated around the room.

"My sons."

Reg looked up at his mother's portrait and saw that there were two occupants now. Orion was staring at them now, a sparkle in his eyes that Reg hadn't seen since Sirius had started Hogwarts and started believing that his family was wrong for protecting the 'Evil Creatures'. Sirius must have been thinking the same thing because he squeezed Reg's arm, and then Sirius' eyes lit up.

"Hey, I've found some diaries belonging to an old great aunt or something," he said quickly, already dragging Reg towards the stairs and the library, where Sirius undoubtedly must have come from before Kreacher's joyous shout. "Her name's Eridani, and she was also Mated to a Being. Father told me about her." They reached the Library, and Reg could see their parents already there in an empty frame. It hung above a table with four chairs, used so that the Black portraits could teach any young Blacks as they studied. The library at Grimmauld Place was small compared to the library at Black Manor, this library barely covering half a floor whereas the one at the Manor filled a room that was three floors high. Every Black had a portrait in the Manor Library too, not having to share a frame, but because the library was so big it was easy for a portrait to be overlooked, especially if the occupant didn't want to leave their frame.

Sirius guided Reg over to the table where about twenty books were spread over the surface, as well as a piece of parchment and a quill resting in a well of black ink.

"Eridani was actually Mated to a Werewolf, and she wrote down everything in journals that she kept throughout her lifetime. When I told Mother about Moony's worsening health she told me that Werewolves are notoriously hard to kill, like all Beings, and the full moon shouldn't affect them as badly as it does to Moony. I think something's up but so far I haven't found anything. I did however, find out that the transformations do hurt for the first five years or so but they settle down until they cause no pain at all, only a slight discomfort. Moony was bitten early enough that his transformations should have been near painless when we started Hogwarts but I remember even that September he was in the Hospital Wing for the full moon." Sirius turned a few pages, frowning when no solution presented itself, and Reg smiled at the concern his brother had for his oldest friend. He made up his mind without a second's thought and touched the stone at his throat. He quickly thought of Seth and pushed a message through the stone and willed it to his Mate.  _I might be spending more time here than I thought, Siri has started researching Beings._  A few minutes later he felt waves of reassurance and acceptance from the stone and relaxed, knowing that he now had his Mate's permission to be out longer.

"Well then," Reg said, startling his brother out of his frowning. Reg pushed his older brother into his chair and, ignoring the journals strewn over the table which indicated that his brother had already looked through them, grabbed a closed journal and waved his wand making his favourite quill, ink and parchment appear in front of him before sitting down opposite his brother. "Let's get going then." Sirius' stunned look slowly morphed into a grin, much like the ones he would give Reg before he'd ran away, and the two Blacks settled down to read Eridani's diaries, Orion and Walburga smiling down at them.

The list could wait for a few hours.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I'm sorry it's taken nearly two months for me to update. There isn't really any excuse, I've had this chapter written before I even posted chapter 6. Chapter 8, however, hasn't been written. This is my last year of Uni, and they're working us quite hard. My fault really, for picking the units that I have.
> 
> Well, thank you to all who have left kudos on this fic. So, I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and if you don't then tell me why!

The candles were flickering lowly when Sirius finally stopped reading, having reached the end of the last book. Reg was just turning the last page of his final book, and so a few minutes later they were both finished and sorting through the notes they'd taken. Sirius noticed that Reg looked as tired as he felt and called for Kreacher.

"Drinks and snacks please Kreacher," he instructed the elf, and Kreacher nodded and popped away. He returned several minutes later with pitchers of cold juice and plates of sandwiches and pastries. The brothers tucked in, and out of the corner of his eye Sirius noticed the painting above their heads was still occupied, although the occupants were talking to themselves only occasionally sneaking glances at their sons. Walburga noticed Sirius watching and smiled at him, and he smiled back before brushing away a few crumbs that had fallen onto his notes.

"I think I've found something, but I'm not sure what it means," Reg said after they'd finished eating and the plates were empty. "It sounds like it might be right but some elements are missing. Run through Remus' symptoms again?" He asked Sirius, and Sirius nodded.

"His changes are violent and painful," he began, and Reg started writing them down for reference. "He is tired all the time and looking more ill by the day, but it escalates to the point where he can't leave his bed the day of the full moon. He needs numerous amounts of pain relievers once the full moon is over just to stand up the next day. It wasn't as bad when we were at school though." Sirius finished his rant feeling even more concerned for Remus. Everything sounded worse when you said it all at once. Reg had written down everything he said and had made little notes about what sounded familiar and what didn't. Sirius looked down at his note-filled parchment and bit his lip. "I read something else, about an attack on Eridani when she was out shopping. Llewellyn came to her rescue but not with wands; he shifted." Reg looked at Sirius and smiled sadly. "Can other werewolves shift when they want?" Regulus nodded slowly. "So why can't Remus? His transformations are only triggered by the full moon, not by will."

"That's one thing I think I can explain," Reg said swiftly, bringing a fresh piece of parchment in front of him and inking his quill. "Eridani and Llewellyn visited a small pack that lived in a town where there was a manhunt on for werewolves; they were killing everyone that was thought to be a werewolf. Eridani thought the pack would be in danger because they had children, and children's transformations are based on emotions, like anger."

"So, whenever the child got angry or scared, they changed?" Sirius asked, and Reg nodded.

"Precisely. But when they got there the pack had put a small spell and ritual combination on all four of their children. The pack had found a spell that stopped a werewolf from shifting, but it fell out of use because the wolf would sort of rip their way out and often the werewolf died. But the parents mixed it with a blood ritual so that the children could only shifted when the parents wanted them to, in other words, not in front of the villagers. The pack stayed undetected until they were able to move away, citing that the werewolves were scaring their children as their reason for leaving. The wizards brought it and let them leave." Reg ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "As I said before, it could be the one used but it's missing something."

"Might I suggest something?" Came a stern voice from above, and the two whipped their heads around like they were boys whose father had just caught them misbehaving. "Take a break. You've been at it for nearly six hours, it's nearing four in the afternoon and you  _need to take a break!_ " The volume increased as Reg and Sirius were about to protest, and quickly the two closed their mouths in the face of their father's wrath.

"Stopping for juice and sandwiches is not an adequate break for the amount of time you've been working," Walburga said with a glare at her sons, daring them to interrupt. "Now leave the library, go to the sitting room, go outside, I don't care. But if you come back here in less than two hours then I'll lock the library for a week. Is that clear?" The two nodded and nearly ran out of the library. "And don't take those notes with you!" She nearly screeched, watching Sirius closely, and the man stopped comically before running back to the table, giving his parents a sheepish smile as he put the notes back and running out the doors again. This time the door closed behind him with a resounding 'thud'.

"Okay then," Reg said with a grin on his face after watching his mother and Sirius. "Shall we go outside?" Sirius nodded quickly and they swiftly walked away from the library. The gardens hadn't changed a bit, Reg thought with nostalgia. His mother's garden was still growing all her favourite flowers, carefully trimmed and arranged so that they wouldn't look out of place at a garden show. His father's garden he'd turned into more of a forest with various varieties of trees growing there. Sirius' garden, when he'd designed it at twelve, was a maze; a playful garden for a playful person. And then there was Reg's garden. The main feature was a river running through the middle, surrounded by lush green grass and various wildflowers. There were a few fruit bushes around as well, because Reg liked coming out here to think or do homework or just read, and he liked having a few snacks around him so that he didn't have to interrupt his work. To his surprise he noticed Sirius was leading him to their father's garden, not his own. His older brother must have noticed his confusion because he spoke.

"It reminds me of Hogwarts, and full moons in the Forbidden Forest," he said softly, looking around the bare trees. "I bring Moony here on the full moon sometimes," he whispered, and Reg looked at him startled. "Moony rents a little studio apartment in a five storey block, he doesn't have anywhere to transform. For the first full moons after we graduated James and I alternated, going from Potter Manor to Black Manor. But after V, He-who-,  _Voldemort,_ " he stammered eventually, "attacked Russell and Harry James had no time for us, so Moony and I had to make other arrangements. The wards at Black Manor had to be updated, and a full moon ritual was required and the Manor had to be vacated which meant Moony and I had to move so I brought him here. He liked it enough that he marked it as part of his territory so now we come here occasionally for him to reassert his ownership. I hope Father won't mind," he murmured, and Reg shook his head.

"He would be proud that a Being claimed his garden," Reg said with a small reassuring grin, and they sat down on a small bench their father had placed in the middle. As Reg sat down he heard a soft crinkling sound, and remembered his original reason for being there.

"I want to give you something, and I know you'll have questions but I don't know if I'll be able to answer them." He withdrew the scroll from his robes and handed it to Sirius. "The people who protect us are sending Harry to various Masters for training, and I asked them for the list so that I could give it to you. I wanted Harry to have his brother, and I know you want to look out for him." Sirius took the letter with shaky hands, his face pale and mouth gaping open in shock. "Neither Harry nor his guardian know that I am giving you this, whether you tell them or not is up to you. Whether you  _go_  or not is up to you," Reg added, "but I thought because they were twins, with the twin magic, they should be on equal level, especially with the things they'll be facing in the future." Sirius just sat and looked at the scroll in silence for a long while before slipping the scroll into his outer robe and out of sight.

"Shall we ask for some hot soup?" Sirius asked happily, rubbing his hands together and mock-shivering at the cold. Reg grinned and nodded, and the older of the two called for Kreacher.

* * *

The day was a cold one, Corey decided. He was sat on the sofa snuggled in blankets by a roaring fire reading, and had been ever since he'd had his breakfast that morning. He had pulled out one of the books he'd brought yesterday, an unbiased version of clashes between Wizards (or Magicals, as Raven tended to call them) and the other Beings and had been reading that whilst Raven got some work done. Reg and Seth had brought back some Owl-order requests from the house in London they had met Uncle Siri in so Raven had asked Corey for permission to disappear for the day. He'd agreed so Raven went into the Potions Lab and only emerged for a few sandwiches at noon, eating them in five minutes before going back into the lab.

Corey had decided early on that the Magicals were in the wrong, reading the book. It was said that a group of Muggleborns had denounced werewolves as 'dangerous beasts' after one had mauled a mutual acquaintance of theirs. They conveniently ignored the fact that the werewolf had only attacked because the acquaintance because the man had assaulted and nearly killed the wolf's son just because the boy was playing with the Muggleborn's children. The Muggleborns then went on a crusade of destroying every Werecreature they could find in Britain before declaring Vampires, Incubi and Succubae were disgusting parasites who killed all they preyed upon. This happened over nearly seventy years, Muggleborns bringing all their hysteria and paranoia about 'dark demons' and slowly changing the Wizarding World to something that was unrecognisable as the tranquil haven it was barely a century before.

The sound of a door opening and the smells of potions made Corey look up from the end of his book. Raven had her head peering around the doorframe, hair dishevelled in its ponytail and cheeks flushed from the heat.

"I'm nearly finished; I'm just cleaning up whilst I wait for the bruise paste and the burn paste to set," she told Corey. She waited for Corey's nod before she went back into the lab, the clinking of bottles and vials attesting to the fact that she was putting everything she'd used that day away. Corey finished the last view pages of the book - an essay on the author's hopes of the two factions returning to equals, and their fears that they won't - and closed the book and returned it to his room before sneaking a look at Raven to see how close to finishing she was. There were only six jars to put away, two large ones filled with green leaves and the four others being largish tubs filled with a bright orange paste. The two ingredient jars went on the top shelf of the cooling cabinet and the four pastes joined a stack of other nine other orange pastes and nearly fifteen tubs of yellow paste on the second-to-bottom shelf. All of the tubs and vials had a light grey raven embossed on the lid or cork and handwritten labels denoting the name, brewing date, expiration date and dosage instructions of the contents of each. Corey noticed the small stylised raven and asked his guardian for its meaning.

"It's my mark," Raven told him, showing him the lid of an empty vial. "Every brewer and distributer has one, and they're all registered with the Ministry so that the seller could be traced if needed. Well, the legal ones are registered, anyway." She showed Corey the lid to the jar of leaves, a red 'M' for Mr Mulpepper's Apothecary, and a small picture of a horned slug on a little bottle of newts eyes from Slugs and Jiggers. Raven then showed Corey a small tube of a thick silvery liquid that had a tiny eye etched into the lid. "Unicorn blood, freely given. I had to get this from Jas, a friend of mine that runs a shop in Knockturn Alley. His Mate is a Seer, hence the eye. She was the one that brought you your dragon," Raven told the boy, and Corey made a little noise of understanding. "Well, I'm done if you want something to eat?" Raven said, and Corey nodded. They left the lab and Raven flicked her wand to erect the wards on the door. "What do you feel like, something little or something big?" She asked as she began inspecting the cupboards and the cooling-cabinet in the kitchen to see what she had.

"Something big," Corey replied, standing on tip-toes to see what was in the cupboards too. He saw cheese and potatoes so suggested a potato bake to which Raven quickly agreed and started pulling things out of the cupboard. Corey watched as Raven peeled potatoes and sliced them, before slicing bacon to put in between the layers of potato. Once finished Corey helped Raven grate the cheese and started layering them into a dish, putting a layer of the potatoes in the bottom and covering it in flour, bacon and cheese. She did one more layer, put a final layer of potato and cheese on top, poured milk evenly over the whole lot and put the dish in the oven. Corey helped tidy and the two soon the smell of cheese permeated the room.

"So that takes about an hour and a half," Raven said, walking to the armchair and picking up a book on Shadow Sorcerers from the table next to it. "Is there anything you wanted to do whilst we wait? I haven't exactly been sociable today." Corey shook his head.

"I was okay reading," he replied, and he found a thin book on Vampire in the main bookcases. "May I read this?" He asked, and Raven looked at the book and nodded, deeming it suitable for a seven-year-old. The two then sat reading until the food was ready. Corey ate it slowly, relishing in the fact that he had real food, hot food, and not just sandwiches that Russell had the house elves sneak to him. He missed his uncles, and his twin especially, and on some level he knew that they missed him too, but he knew they'd meet at Hogwarts. He was quite looking forward to it too, and after going over the list of people the Elders wanted him to learn from he knew he wouldn't be ahead of his peers once they start except for in familiarity with his wand and core. It was mostly self defence and etiquette that the Elders wanted him taught in, and he couldn't wait to go in two weeks. Raven had set a date to go to Diagon and get Corey some travelling clothes and other, more specific things for where they were going next, as well as a trunk for Corey to put them in. She also had to set up a system with the Goblins to have all of her post, especially her Potions orders, sent to wherever they were. Corey knew they'd be all over the world with his training, and Raven would want to keep up with her little business. Corey soon finished his food and thanked Raven for the meal before going back to reading, half his thoughts occupied by what might happen over the next three and a half years.

* * *

The next five days were spent inside due to the rain, with Raven only venturing out to the house in London to check the mail, and even then she used the Floo network. Corey was happy to stay inside though, enjoying either reading or making potions with Raven. If she was just brewing for fun then Corey would help her, but if she was brewing a business order then Corey would work on his own potion from the box, sometimes with a book next to him learning why a particular motion was used or why an ingredient was used finely powdered and not just generally crushed. There was a brief respite on the Thursday however.

_Raven had sent Corey to bed as usual so Corey was a bit confused when she had woke him up at quarter past eleven that night, after only three and a half hours of sleep. Raven bundled him into a thick jumper and covered him in a warm cloak, then slipped on his shoes and led him outside. Corey was still none-the-wiser when they reached the ground and he saw the multitude of people in the Square, but once Raven pulled him forwards with the crowd smiled fondly as they passed Corey found the answers he was seeking when he saw the rather large arrangement of fireworks in the ground ready to be lit._

_"It's New Years Eve," Raven reminded Corey with a wink, and Corey felt a frizzle of excitement in his stomach. "We greet the New Year at midnight." Corey smiled widely then followed Raven through the multitude of families sitting on the grass in the Square. They were walking over to where a few tables were set up, Raven occasionally greeting a few people she knew, and Corey heard a slight pitter-patter of rain, but the ground was dry and there was no rain dripping on him, even though he was sure that it had been raining rather heavily when he went to bed earlier. "What's the matter?" Raven asked, noting his confusion, and Corey turned to her with a frown._

_"Where's the rain?" Raven grinned and pointed upwards._

_"The Elders are great at Wards, they have to be to protect the Alley," she explained. "They simply made the Wards repel the rain for a short while, long enough to set up the fireworks and have the show, then to get everyone in and tidy up." The crowd around them were murmuring lowly in excitement, eating food off conjured plates and drinking juice and occasionally alcohol from glass tumblers. Raven asked Corey if he wanted a drink or something to eat when they reached the table, and Corey noticed a very familiar Earth Demon manning the stall. Seeing Raven approach Kalei put three shortbread biscuits on a plate and poured two glasses of pumpkin juice and sent them on their way with the goodies almost as soon as they got to the tables. Raven simply laughed and hugged the woman, and Corey murmured his thanks with a smile as they left. Now that they were all gathered Corey could see the amount of small children sitting with their families, nearly forty in all. Some were sitting in their mother's laps eating, or running around playing with their friends or siblings with their fretful parents watching on. A few excited children had already found perches on their father's shoulders, although Corey was sure that it was an older brother boosting one little girl, and they were alone in the crowd. The brother looked about Raven's age and the girl a few years older than Corey, and when the girl laughed at something the other said Corey saw little fangs peek out from under her top lip._

_Corey was startled from his musing by Raven speaking._

_"We're over this way," she said gently guiding the distracted boy towards a large group of people sitting on the steps of the Hall. Corey looked back at the vampire siblings one last time then looked up at Raven with a question on his lips._

_"Whose shoulders did you used to sit on?" He asked the half-demoness, and she grinned and expertly manoeuvred the two of them around the running children, probably using magic to stop the drinks and the plate falling from her hands. "Believe it or not, Ash," she told the boy, and Corey had trouble picturing the stern aggressive Fire demon allowing a little girl to climb up on his shoulders and giggle with glee as she watched the fireworks. Raven laughed at Corey's scepticism, then Corey was grabbed under the arms and swung onto someone's shoulders, disorienting the boy further. He watched as his mystery assailant hugged Raven tightly then let her go._

_"Hello Reg," the exasperated girl said with a grin, checking to make sure Corey was okay. Corey peered down and confirmed that it was indeed the younger Black that had him captive, looking to his left and noticing a_ very _amused Seth grinning at him. Raven passed Corey a biscuit and a glass of juice and told the boy not to get too much on Reg's hair, to which Reg whined how mean Raven was and Raven simply winked and Corey before walking to a familiar Elder who wrapped Raven into a much nicer hug that Reg did. Corey watched as Seren talked to Raven, still hugging her somewhat, and saw the some of the other Elders greeting Raven similarly. Amon hugged the girl, and Corey noticed that the two seemed to be the same height and much smaller than the other Elders, before the large form of the afore-mentioned Fire Demon hugged the girl with a gentleness that Corey wouldn't have believed of him if he hadn't seen it. Seth must have noticed some of Corey's thoughts on his face because he smiled slightly and talked to him._

_"Ash is and has nearly always been very loving to Raven. He has a hatred of Magicals, that is sure, but it makes him even more protective of us in the Alley." Seth looked back at the two where Raven was now huddled under Ash's protective arm and looking happy there, almost comfortable, and smiled nostalgically. "You must understand, he is protective of us because we are Beings, but he would go to the end of world and back for Raven. He had been a guardian of Raven's ever since she was three, he loves her as a little sister, the only remaining family he has. He was distrustful to you because you are Magical, but give it time and you will probably be as smothered as Raven is." Corey nodded and Reg and Seth approached the happy bunch, Corey politely waving at whomever Raven was introducing to him at the time. The only one to stay longer than it took to say 'hello' was a short, pretty woman with blonde and blue hair who was almost as excited as Raven, both of them nearly bouncing up and down on the balls of their feet as they waited for the merriment to start. They talked for nearly fifteen minutes with Raven blushing profusely at one point whilst looking around for something whilst the other woman laughed. Corey finished his juice and biscuit without making too much of a mess, flicking a few crumbs off Reg's hair making the man grumble even as he smiled._

_A few minutes after the woman with spiky part-blue hair left a couple approached, the woman hugging Raven as much as she could with Ash in the way. The woman had her hair in an intricate plait that ended at her waist making Corey wonder how long it was out of its plait, and her partner had short hair which was such a dark brown it was nearly black. Raven was about to introduce them to Corey when the woman just bounded up to Corey and started talking like familiar friends, asking how he liked his dragon. Corey smiled and thanked her, and they talked for a while. Corey found himself liking the odd woman, and he liked her even more when she stole the third biscuit from Raven and gave it to Corey, evading Raven for the three minutes it took for a man with hair a curiously bright shade of nut-brown to appear from nowhere and give Raven another two shortbread biscuits, a smirk on his lips and an echoing one from a white-haired woman next to him. The two were introduced to Corey as Shane and Isadora, or Isa to a few, and the woman who stole the biscuit for Corey smiled sheepishly and introduced herself as Olva, too caught up in saying hi she forgot to tell Corey her name. The man she was with introduced himself as Jas, and soon Jas and Olva disappeared elsewhere and only Reg, Seth, Corey, Raven, Shane and Isadora were left with the Elders on the steps. Raven sat down on the steps as Ash left with Carl and Rhys, and the others quickly made themselves comfortable as the three males walked to the fireworks and made last minute checks._

_"Five minutes to go," Reg called to Corey, and Corey smiled and watched as the others in the Square hushed and settled down, kids stopping their running around in favour of jumping onto shoulders themselves. Reg made no attempt to remove Corey so the boy relaxed again and started watching the preparations. The Square was silent, no-one knowing what to do, until one Magical cast a spell at the sky and a countdown appeared, large blue numbers counting down from three minutes and twenty-three seconds. There was an appreciative murmuring until the crowd quietened again, only to start up once the numbers reached 00.00.10._

_"Ten! Nine! Eight!" Corey grinned as the crowd started shouting, and he saw Ash flex his fingers and call little flames to his hands. "Seven!" Corey joined in then, shouting as loud as he could. "Six! Five! Four! Three! Two! One!" The numbers suddenly disappears and made way for the fireworks, flashes of blue and green and red. "Happy New Year!" Was shouted at the sky, and the crowd cheered as phoenixes flew above their heads, made up entirely of sparks from the fireworks, and a flying serpent emerged from a explosion of blue and green fireworks wheeled overhead. The crowd 'ooh'ed and 'ahh'ed as the show continued for nearly twenty minutes. The Elder Fire Demon was the one setting off the fireworks, little flames flying from his hands in a practised rhythm as Carl and Rhys made sure that nothing went wrong and occasionally exploded the fireworks early to make sure they didn't explode against the Wards above._

_When the fireworks eventually slowed and stopped the inhabitants of the Alley lingered for only a moment before moving their children indoors and getting them back into bed._

_"Let's go kiddo," came a soft voice, and Corey found himself slipped off of Reg's shoulders by Seth into Reg's arms. Now that the excitement was over Corey found himself just wanted to go back to sleep and so he found himself starting to drift back to sleep. Soon all he could remember was feeling cold as the cloak and jumpers were taken off him and then cool sheets as he was laid back on his bed. He fell to sleep soon after._

* * *

Once the rain stopped on the first Monday of January Raven had declared that they were going to Diagon Alley. "You need a trunk for when we travel," she told him. "And I need something to carry all of my Potions things in so that I can brew any orders I get, and I need to ask Gringotts if they have any way of getting order requests to me and the potions to my customers." So at eleven o'clock that morning the two were found slipping into Diagon Alley under Notice-Me-Not charms which Raven took off them when they reached a discrete spot away from Knockturn Alley. The Alley was mostly empty; it being the fourth of January meant that the Hogwarts Express left yesterday for the start of the Spring term. The two walked to Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment and entered swiftly, the warm shop being a delight after walking around in the crisp January air. Raven ushered Corey to the trunks and left him to browse before she went off to find something for her Potions.

Corey stared at the multitude of trunks surrounding him. There were plain wooden trunks with no decorations next to a trunk made of dark wood and painted with brightly coloured birds, and that itself was next to a trunk covered in leather with metal studs. Corey looked around at the fourteen trunks and immediately tried to work out which trunk he wanted. He started by ruling out five of them; they were either made out of too light a colour of wood or had decorations he didn't like. He then looked at the other ten one by one, ruling out two because they were simply standard trunks with only one non-expandable compartment. Raven had told him that he would need three at a minimum, one for clothes, one for books and other personal items, and one for whatever equipment would be needed for each Master, be it weapons or books or anything else. Four more were dismissed for various reasons leaving Corey with only three trunks to pick from. The first was a three-compartment trunk made of a light wood with a dog motif in darker wood on the front. He looked it over again then grinned when the dog moved to the lid. The dog caught his grin and barked silently before jumping and gambling around the trunk. The second one had four compartments and made of a dark wood with no decorations, and the last one had three compartments but with a silver clasp and a decorative design on the top in which the owner could place their initials. Corey strayed between the three before choosing one and walking off to find Raven, his purchase firmly in his mind.

"Found one have you?" Raven greeted him jovially as she debated with the shopkeeper over which box was best. Corey nodded before watching the two, the debate raging on for a further ten minutes before Raven settled on a box that was apparently made of chestnut and had five expandable compartments all layered in stasis charms. There were inlayed vine designs made of ebony, and the clasp was of steel and could be charmed to open only to the owner's touch. Corey pointed out the second trunk, the plain one with leather clasps that had a complex version of a Sticking charm on the clasps that would only unclasp with the correct incantation (which was different for all of the trunks, the shopkeeper assured, otherwise owners could open every trunk of its kind if they brought one). Raven happily brought the two and shrunk them to fit into the pouches on her belt. Then they made their way to Gringotts. Once there Raven made a beeline for Crackjaw's office, knocking twice and waiting before opening the door at the loud 'enter' that came from the room beyond. Crackjaw greeted the two before asking their business.

"We are going to be out of the country for a time," Raven explained, "and I would like a way to get all of my post to me so that I can continue my business abroad."

"Where are you going?" The Goblin asked, scratching out notes in a ledger.

"Here and there," Raven replied. "We won't be staying in one place for more than a few months." The Goblin studied the young woman before turning back to the book.

"If you have your orders sent here and carry an inconspicuous tracker on you, then we have ways of sending the post between branches where they can then be winged to you." The Goblin sneered. "We have other ways of instantaneous travel without using the Wizard's Fire." The Goblin's distaste for Floo was obvious and Corey didn't blame him in the least; Floo travel was nauseous at best and dangerous at worst - what if you came out at the wrong fireplace! You'd be lost in a possibly dangerous place with no way of anyone getting to you!

Raven had opened her mouth to ask another question but the Goblin beat her to it.

"Yes, the service can also be used in opposite," he said with a bored tone of voice. "Send your Potions to the nearest Gringotts with instructions to send them here and we will send them along." Raven grinned in relief, knowing that Gringotts would have an answer for her. "This service is charged at twenty Galleons a month," the Goblin smirked, and Raven gasped and put a hand to her heart.

"But that is far too much," she replied dramatically, and the two proceeded to haggle the price down to fourteen Galleons a month. At the end of it the Goblin was wearing a slightly disappointed look on his face but Raven was smiling. "Oh don't look like that, I know for a fact that Gringotts usually charge only twelve Galleons for that service." The Goblin looked at Raven with a question on his face. "It appeared in the book after you wrote it in." Crackjaw glared at the demoness before looking down at the book and sure enough the price had materialised after Crackjaw had written the service that Raven required.

"Fair enough, fourteen Galleons it is," he replied, writing something down before closing the book with a snap. On the cover was written 'Blake, Raven', and once Crackjaw let go of the ledger it floated into a large bookcase behind the Goblin and settled into a gap on the top shelf.

"It's a record of my history with the bank," Raven told the inquisitive boy as they left. "It has copies of all my statements as well as my in-person dealings with Crackjaw." The two then left for the Leaky Cauldron, where they Flooed straight into their flat and promptly left again. This time they headed to the clothing shop in the Square. To Corey's dismay the witch who owned the shop kept them there for nearly an hour and a half, telling them that since the Elders hadn't seen fit to tell them where they were going then they would need warm clothes for winter and well-ventilated clothes for summer and hats and gloves and scarves and everything else as she bustled around her shop measuring them. Raven tried to tell the middle-aged tornado that they would probably be coming back for a few weeks between training with each Master but the witch refused to hear of it, and when Raven suggested that Corey might get taller in the next four years the witch just glared and replied that boys don't grow that much before eleven, and growth charms on the clothes would take care of that. When the two left they were silent, having been cowed by the diminutive witch, and spent the rest of the day at home in silence.


	8. Chapter 8

"Uncle Sirius!" came the excited shout as soon as Sirius stepped out of the fireplace. It wasn't long before he was assaulted by a small black-haired Bludger as his eldest godson ran into his legs and held on for dear life. Sirius laughed and Russell smiled up at him, but there was a loneliness in his eyes that wasn't there before Christmas. James appeared briefly in the doorway with a grin on his face and about to greet his old friend but a cold glare from said friend had the ex-chaser doing an abrupt about-face and walking away.

"How are you doing Prongslet?" Sirius asked as Russell walked him to the boy's bedroom. The boy sighed sadly before falling onto his bed and staring at the ceiling.

"He's gone," the boy said quietly. "Even when he was locked in his room I could still feel that he was here, but now he's not and I hate it." It was Sirius' turn to sigh, then he sat up and stared seriously at his godson.

"We know that everyone is expecting... big things from you," he began hesitantly, trying not to blurt out things insensitively like he'd once been told he did. Russell nodded and murmured "Voldemort" under his breath. Sirius nodded in agreement before continuing. "I've been told of a few Masters that would be willing to train you, not only in fighting and magic but in politeness and all the social nonsense that a Pureblooded Lord needs to know, and you'll be under scrutiny and in the public eye once you start Hogwarts." Russell was staring off into space in thought for a few minutes, and Sirius so badly wanted to tell the boy that his brother would be there too but held his tongue.

Russell shook his head. "I just... I wanna be a kid," Russell said softly, and Sirius let an inaudible sigh.

"If that's what you want Prongslet," he said with a forced smile, one that Russell didn't spot, and jumped off the bed. "I brought my broom, fancy a few races?" Russell's face lit up and he was out of the room before Sirius could even blink. The man just laughed to himself and walked out of the room and followed his godson to the Potter's Quidditch pitch.

Later that night Sirius was in the family parlour of Black Manor with a book in his lap and a frown on his face. The flames flared green and his best friend stepped out, wearing threadbare and patchy robes that Sirius had offered to replace many times but the annoying werewolf had declined each and every time. Remus had a tired grin on his face which faded when he spotted the serious look on Sirius' face. Wordlessly Sirius handed him the book, open at a particular page marked by a thin strip of leather, and Remus frowned but began to read. It was Eridani's journal, open at the page where she described her mate and his lycanthropy. When Remus had finished he had a confused frown on his face and opened his mouth to speak, but Sirius silently motioned for Remus to skip to the next page denoted by another strip of leather. Remus continued reading, this time the account of Eridani's visit to the beleaguered pack and their ritual for holding back the change. Remus looked doubly confused at this point and Sirius stared at him, willing him to listen.

"That's what I've found so far," Sirius started to explain his concerns to Remus, keeping his brother out of it. "What you're going through is not normal for a Werewolf, there is something wrong. The spell mentioned there could be what is stopping you from shifting whenever you want, but that's all I have so far. I just can't figure out what is causing you pain, there is something missing and until I find it I can't make the pain and aches go away." Sirius hung his head in self-disgust that he hadn't yet found the missing piece of the proverbial jigsaw. He heard wool scratch against itself and footsteps, and Remus settled in a crouch in front of the Black Lord.

"How long have you been researching this Sirius?" Remus asked with the beginnings of a smirk. Sirius blushed lightly.

"A few days, not long," Sirius replied.

"And yet you still get frustrated because you haven't found out everything? It's likely to take months Sirius, maybe even years to find everything and even longer to find out how to break it. All this in a few days is more than what anyone has done for me so for the love of Merlin stop moping like a five-year-old!" Remus said heatedly at the end, and Sirius just laughed and laughed and couldn't stop.

* * *

After their shopping trip the two Blakes spent the remaining days going to visit Reg and Seth and walking around the Alley. One day Raven showed Corey the Alley's Quidditch Pitch and paid for him to rent a broom for the day from a blue-skinned man in a booth by the entrance. She didn't rent one for herself citing a dislike of flying, but Corey took to the sky like a natural and Raven spent four hours alternating between grinning at her faux-brother's prowess and being frightened out of her wits at some of the 'tricks' the seven-year-old was performing. She knew for a fact it was his first time on a broomstick and even on an early-model Cleansweep Corey was amazing. The boy himself was in heaven, the wind against his face was calming and the speed he was going at? He loved it! He could very much understand why his brother was always grinning after a session with James Potter on the Pitch. James was determined to build Russell into the perfect Chaser like himself. Corey was alone on the Pitch for the first hour, then some of the children who lived in the Alley appeared and invited Corey to join them for a fly-around and a few games, which Corey gladly accepted. Sometimes Corey would look over at Raven to see her either watching him or reading a tome she'd brought with her, although towards the end Raven was joined by two men and one woman who had disappeared by the time Corey had finished playing, and Raven told him they were friends whom he would probably meet sometime in the future.

It wasn't until the 15th of January that Raven and Corey left for Wales, a Portkey taking them to a Warded house in the Brecon Beacons. This first visit was to a Half-blood Wizard named Owain Vaughn, who had attained a Masters in the History, Politics and Customs of the British Wizarding World. Owain Vaughn was thirty-eight years old, he told them, and was average height but with an almost emaciated build. His house-elf Mippy was rather obsessive with feeding her master every mealtime and providing copious amounts of snacks throughout the day. Apparently he had the habit of forgetting to eat. His dark-brown hair was wiry and unkempt, his creased and semi-worn clothes only adding to his dishevelled appearance.

The Blake's first day there was gentle, Master Vaughn asking what they knew and telling them a bit about himself. He gained his Masters nearly twenty years ago from a Canadian University instead of a British one, to avoid learning only the Ministry's version of events which painted the Beings in an unfavourable light. Corey had no previous instruction whatsoever so Master Vaughn started from the beginning, teaching Corey a little (and sometimes a lot, Master Vaughn going into tremendous detail) about everything he could ever think of, from Merlin and early British History to the founding of Hogwarts to the Ministry of Magic and the Wizengamot, which was the only place in Britain where the Beings and Magicals held equal sway - no thanks to the Chief Warlock Albus Dumbledore. Master Vaughn stayed on politics after that, detailing the various laws governing everything that British Wizarding Citizens could and could not do, and then described the different departments and processes of the British Ministry of Magic. Master Vaughn then tutored him in the polite ways to greet the members of a House, including the differences between greeting a Head and an Heir, a Lord and a Lady, and even greeting those of a Noble and Most Ancient House as opposed to simply a Noble House.

Whilst Corey was learning all of this Raven was given more intensive lesson. She had known the basics since she was a third-year, either by being taught by her guardians, by reading or picking it up at Hogwarts, so she wasn't completely clueless like Corey. Master Vaughn had tested Raven more extensively on Magical History and the history of the Beings their second day in his lodge before announcing that night that her knowledge of the Magicals was excellent, as was her general history when it came to Beings, but her knowledge of the intricate niceties and customs of the different species of Beings was lacking. Over the next two and a half months he then proceeded to teach her everything she could ever wish to know about the various greetings and rituals, and even some things she didn't want to know. Corey had been especially impressed by the deep shade of Raven's blush after Master Vaughn had spent the day making sure that she knew of every Courting Rituals between all species, including pressing upon her the knowledge that for a Courting to be solidified into a Bond it must be consummated.

Because the two Blakes were learning completely different topics Master Vaughn decided to split his time between them. Corey was taught in the mornings and the afternoons were for him to research more about that morning's topic with a verbal question starting the next session. Raven was then taught in the afternoons, with the mornings used for her to read a few books in preparation for her instruction so that Master Vaughn could just fill the gaps in her knowledge. At the end of their stay Master Vaughn declared that the siblings knew enough not to unknowingly cause any irreparable insult to anyone and he was kicking them out of his home to continue their tutoring.

They spent a week and a half at home afterwards, mostly resting but Raven repeatedly raided the bookshop below their flat to find some of the books that Master Vaughn had that she didn't but wanted. A few of the Elders stopped by twice during their stay, to ask after their health and to see what they had been learning, and Amon lent Raven and Corey a few books from his collection when he heard of their interest. As their days were filled so were their nights; Raven went by Sangre nearly every evening to donate as much blood as possible to keep Carl in stock whilst they were away as well as feeding Isa and Shane to keep their connection from fading and so Corey spent the evenings being watched by Reg and Seth. Seth had firsthand knowledge of the last hundred years of history, and Reg rather than reading Corey a book before bed would point out the constellations on Corey's ceiling, showing Corey his uncle's namesake as well as Reg's own.

Before they knew it Raven and Corey were on a plane flying from Heathrow to Paris where they were to spend a month learning the politics, history and customs of the French Wizarding community, the third largest in world after the USA and Russia. Raven shocked Corey when she greeted their teacher in fluent French, the two women keeping the conversation going for nearly five minutes before Corey had tugged impatiently on Raven's sleeve, reminding her that he didn't speak French. Raven flushed with embarrassment before introducing Corey to their tutor, Madam Célia Augustin. First appearances reminded Corey of a strict schoolteacher, a graciously-aged woman with her hair pulled into a tight bun, although instead of grey its colour was a shining gold, and she was dressed impeccably in a Muggle skirt suit as she met them at the airport. Corey wasn't wrong as Madam Augustin was a retired teacher from Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, but she quickly told him with a faint accent to drop the 'Madam' and surnames and just call her Célia. Their first day consisted of a tour around Paris and taking in the Muggle sights before a lavish feast was served to them at her house. The next day was dedicated to Célia teaching Corey to speak French whilst Raven was allowed a day to sort out any Potions orders and fulfil them before sending them off. Raven was only allowed a day for her business though, and was soon introduced to one of Célia's friends and taken to meet some of the more important Beings in France, for instance a Vampire who was the Head Healer of the French hospital for Magical accidents and ailments, and the Deputy Prime Minister of the French Magical community, who was a Wereleopard. They gave her details of the different attitudes to Beings in different countries, something that Célia thought she wouldn't be able to do since she was only a Witch. They also tested the protocol, customs and knowledge that Master Vaughn had taught her, correcting anything that wasn't near perfect. After Corey had a basic knowledge of the French language Célia ordered both he and Raven to speak only French during their stay so that Corey could remember the language and pick it up easier.

In between tutoring Célia took them on day trips to use their new knowledge and to take them to the historic places she was telling them about; they made weekly trips to L'Allée des Sorciers, the French equivalent of Diagon Alley, and a trip to Beauxbatons where Célia gave them the full tour, with the permission of the Headmistress Olympe Maxime, whom Corey thought was just as awe-inspiring as the school she was Head of. Beauxbatons was the most beautiful place Corey had ever been, and he felt a pang of sorrow that he would not be attending this school in three years. It was a large manor surrounded by lush green lawns and sprawling gardens filled with flowers both Magical and Muggle. Célia took great pride in her school, telling them stories of her time there as both a student and a teacher, and told stories of all of the famous people that had walked through Beauxbaton's doors. Raven at one point looked as though she wanted to ask something, but stopped at the last minute and Corey saw a deep-seated sadness in the teenager that lingered for the rest of their tour. The longer the Blakes stayed the more they came to know and like Célia, who was in fact more playful than her original impression gave, and despite being a few years over seventy she was still spry and possessed more stamina than Raven, despite only being a Witch and not a Being. Every morning Célia would get up before dawn and go for a run around the city and after three days she dragged her two guests with her, stating that "a healthy body makes for a healthier mind!" After their month in France was, regrettably, over the two travelled straight to Norway where they were hosted by the former History Teacher at Durmstrang, Marek Dobrovolný, who taught them all about the rest of European History including the rise of Grindelwald and, even further back, the beginning of Durmstrang Institute. He was younger than Célia by nearly thirty years, only taking a leave from Durmstrang because of a stray curse hitting him in his Duelling classes. He hadn't been paying attention and he had been lax with his shields, meaning that the very powerful curse hit him dead centre and he needed six months to recover.

Five weeks later they left Norway and headed back home, leaving Norway at noon on the 22nd of June and arriving in Britain two hours later at one o'clock in the afternoon, making Corey's head spin as he thought about the time difference versus the time the two travelled. Two days later was Raven's 20th birthday, something Corey wouldn't have known had Reg not told him before he left for France. Their flat was invaded mid-morning by Reg, Seth, Olva, Jas, Amy, Shane, Isa and seven others, three of which Corey thought he recognised from the Quidditch Pitch nearly six months ago. Raven introduced them all to Corey, and Corey to all of them as her little brother. Four of them were siblings, two older brothers and a set of fraternal twins, one male and one female, and were Water Demons. Their hair was shades of blue or green, the twins having pale green hair whereas the older brothers were on the blue side. Their eyes were grey though, 'the colour of tides in stormy weather' as Vivien, the female twin described them when Corey failed to find the words. The twins were a year older than Raven but they occasionally played together (or read together, as Raven and Wade, the male twin, were commonly found in the Alley's bookshop), and the older brothers tended to watch over them whilst they were outside. The eldest brother Dylan was tall but thin, with long arms that shimmered and ended in hands with webbed fingers. Corey didn't notice until they shook hands, and all gathered laughed at Corey's shock. It turned out that Dylan preferred the feeling of being in half-demon form, hence the fish-scales on his skin (the source of the shimmering) and the webbed fingers and toes. The middle brother was called Calder, and he was the one to present Raven with their present of a Swedish Short-Snout figurine made of silvery-blue tinted glass. The next people were the twins' best friends and the rest of Raven's childhood playmates, an Earth Demon named Alder, a Fire Demoness Eithne and her cousin Jeff, who was also half vampire. It was Wade, Vivian and Jeff that visited Raven at the Pitch, and they all complimented Corey on his flying. Most of the presents given to Raven were books or figurines of dragons to go into her room, but Shane and Isa brought her a joint gift of a few dresses and shirts, and Olva and Jas two new cauldrons because Olva Saw that Raven's would wear out soon.

As they all left everyone berated Raven for forgetting to write, to which Raven replied that if she had to write to all of them every week at a length of their satisfaction there wouldn't be enough time to do anything else. They managed to convince Raven to write at least one letter a week to Reg, Shane and Vivian, and Olva would keep watch in case of emergencies. Later in the evening while Corey was still reeling from the previous invasion five of the Elders visited, Chase, Seren, Ash, Amon and Carl, bringing with them a large box full of labelled hairs, including unicorn tail hairs and thestral hairs and even labelled hairs from everyone who trusted Raven not to use them for Polyjuice or any harmful potions. Hair of a Fire Demon was especially sought-after in Europe for its use in many of the more powerful burn relievers, according to Raven. When Seren left she told Raven to add her to the list of weekly letters, much to Raven's frustration.

Raven and Corey also kept up with their morning runs, despite that they were supposed to be on their holiday, because although Raven hadn't heard of their next instructors she knew that keeping the two of them in shape would make learning from them a bit easier. The Blakes were dreading their next excursion because, when Raven named two Vampire brothers by the names of Devon and El Barnes as their next instructors to their last instructor Marek, his smirk made even Raven shiver. It took her a bit of time to find out about the brothers but now they knew that they were formidable fighters and ran a training camp for other creatures, never going easy on them. So, now with a suspicion of what they were going to be in for for three months Raven thought that it would be prudent to keep with the running, despite her seven-year-old charge's reluctance to get up before dawn.

On one of their runs, shortly after Raven's birthday, Raven took them to a large park on the outskirts of Oblitus which was almost twice the size of the Square and surrounded by dense woodland which, according to Raven, also housed a large pond that may or may not be filled with Grindylows. Corey marvelled at the size of the so-called 'Alley', wondering just how the Elders managed to hide a piece of land of that size. Just then they were heard familiar deep laughter and Raven had sped up slightly, hoping that the owner of said laugh would not stop to talk. Unfortunately Ash was soon running in pace with Raven and was making her stop. Corey stopped when Raven did and flopped to the ground, nearly exhausted because Raven had once again forgotten that he was only eight and just a human, and was soon handed a potion bottle by the eldest-looking Elder, Rhys. It was one of Raven's, neatly labelled as a child-friendly Pepper-Up potion. Corey had gratefully downed it and laid back, the lush grass providing a soft and cool bed. He heard laughter, not Ash's this time, and many voices instead of one, and looked up at Rhys to see him smiling in amusement and surround by lots of men, all of them dressed in black and carrying weapons.

"The Guard run here every morning and evening," Rhys told him, motioning to the males behind him. "Ash and I run with them to make sure they don't slack off." He turned to the group of twenty-four. "Alright then, you may take a break. Looks like Ash might be a while." Corey rolled his head around to stare at the previously-forgotten duo stood a little ways away, Raven hanging her head guiltily and nodding every so often. "Ash may not like you but he realised that Raven was running too fast for you," Rhys said when Corey asked him why Raven was getting told off. Soon the two walked back to Corey and Rhys and when Raven spotted the boy lying on the floor she quickly looked down in shame again. "You'll both run with us in the future," Rhys decided, and Raven nodded quickly, not wanting to get another telling-off by the overprotective Incubus. "You need to remember to not only know your own limits, but Corey's as well." Raven nodded dejectedly, and Rhys had simply taken her in his arms and all was forgiven. So the two Blakes had to meet the Guard on the other side of the Alley in their 'barracks', and ran with them every morning. This meant that when Corey had reached his limit one of the Guardsmen was ordered to give him a piggyback lift, a different Guardsman each time.

After their morning runs Raven would take Corey into her Potions Lab for two hours to brew, teaching Corey the basics of Potions and the theory behind every step in a potion. They would stop mid-morning and for the rest of the day the two Blakes would then either hang around the flat reading, or talking to each other trying to learn everything they could about the other, or they would go out for day trips. They went to Marwell Zoo near Winchester one day, and they stayed in London for a long weekend and investigated the Tower of London, the Dungeons, every Gallery and Museum they could find and took a trip on the London Eye the next week. Raven let Corey go to the Quidditch Pitch at least twice every week and Corey quickly became friends with the four boys he met there the first time, two ten-year-old Incubi, one teenage Air Demon and a twelve-year-old Vampire. Things continued in this vein until July Thirty-First, when Corey was to be seen moping around the flat and not doing much on anything, wishing that he could see his brother and wish him a happy birthday. Three days later was Corey's birthday, he woke up as usual and walked out of his bedroom where he was picked up and flung around by a smirking Reg. Raven peeked around the corner and told Reg to stop it, which he did very reluctantly, and Corey was treated to a full English breakfast and orange juice with Seth and Reg joining them. Next were presents, and Corey found himself unwrapping a wide variety of books, fiction and non-fiction, Magical and Muggle, as well as toys, games and puzzles from everyone he had met since living in Oblitus. He had one last present though, and it was in a long box. He opened it up and found only tissue paper much to his annoyance, and the impatient eight-year-old started dropping the paper on the floor not noticing the grin on Raven's face. It wasn't long before they heard a gasp and hurried babbling, Corey finally having found the broomstick inside. It took a lot of promising but Corey eventually calmed down enough for cake, a handmade chocolate cake in the shape of the simple circle decorated with blue icing, decorated with white letters proclaiming 'Happy 8th Birthday Corey!'. That afternoon Corey ran down to the Quidditch Pitch with his new broom, Raven, Reg and Seth following slowly, and played some games with his friends.

The following weeks followed the same pattern as before, Raven still disappeared to Sangre every other night, and Reg still gave Corey Astronomy lessons before bed, although now they were progressing onto the effects of the stages of the lunar cycle on potions brewing, and the best time to do what rituals. Corey spent time with his friends, playing Quidditch or just having races, and once they were too hot they would empty their water bottles over each other until someone brought 'fake' wands that would shoot streams of water on a mental command, and the five boys drenched each other in a water fight to cool down. Soon more of the wands were procured and courses were built, and more children of the Alley joined in what were more like water wars on the hot summer days. It wasn't long before everyone between the ages of three and eighteen were joining in at least once a week, and Corey wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

Reg Flooed into Grimmauld Place and smiled widely at the portrait on the opposite wall, where his mother and father were waiting for him. His father gracefully left the portrait and Sirius soon appeared in the door with a grin. Sirius was about to hug him when Reg quickly shook his head.

"I went to talk to the Elders," Reg told his brother, who quickly looked confused. "I told them what we learnt and Rafael recognised the spells we found. He then asked what Remus' symptoms are and he thinks he can help. He's heard of something similar and might know the missing link so, if you're willing, Rafael would like to meet Remus and see if he can help or find anyone who can." Sirius's expression morphed from confusion to shock. He knew of Rafael or Rafe, the Werewolf representative of the Elders, but hadn't thought that he might want to help. "If you can get Remus here then I can get Rafael, whenever everyone is ready." Sirius quickly nodded and ran to the fireplace as Reg made himself comfortable. Three minutes later Sirius was back, and he was bouncing on his heels.

"Remus will be here in ten minutes," he said happily, and Reg raised his eyebrow in surprise.

"I'd better go get Rafael then," he told his brother, and he walked into the fireplace. Ten minutes later he walked back out, and the look of shock on Remus' worn face was comical.

"But.. you're dead!" The Werewolf blurted, and Reg grinned as the man behind him chuckled.

"The reports were greatly exaggerated?" Reg offered hesitantly, and Rafael chuckled again. Only Raven and the other Elders, maybe Corey too, could get away with calling him Rafe, everyone else had to stick to the longer form of the Elder's name.

Remus' mouth was open and the man was stammering silently. Sirius was trying desperately not to laugh but soon failed and loud barking guffaws were audible around the house. Kreacher popped in with drinks and snacks before leaving again, and Reg and Rafael sat on one of the sofas and waited for Remus to realise that Reg was indeed alive and Sirius to stop laughing. Before long Remus seemed to shake himself out and sniff the air, instantly becoming wary of the stranger.

"My name is Rafael, Remus Lupin," the Elder began. "I am considered the Alpha Werewolf of Great Britain." Remus looked scared for a moment before looking at Sirius and calming down at his friend's encouraging expression. "Regulus told me of your predicament and if you would permit me to look at the curses on you I would like to help." Remus blushed as all three men looked at him for more than a few minutes, then he made up his mind and nodded.

"I would consider it an honour if you would help me," he said politely, and Rafael nodded before pulling out a wood made of a light wood and started casting spells at Remus. For ten minutes beams of light, mainly a hue of blue or yellow, encompassed Remus as he sat on the sofa. At one point Rafael frowned and fired a red-coloured spell at the younger werewolf, the results of which meant that the subsequent spells were all coloured yellow. It was a further fifteen minutes before Rafael had all the information he needed and stood.

"Thank you, for letting me examine you," he said to Remus with a slight bow. "I believe I have an answer for your problem but I need to discuss it with a number of colleagues first. I will contact you through the Black brothers, if that is appropriate?" The brothers nodded. "Then I will take my leave." Sirius stood up as the host of the gathering and escorted Rafael out after the Elder gave his goodbyes. Remus turned to Regulus when they were the only people left in the room.

"What happened to you Regulus, and  _don't,_ " he growled when Regulus opened his mouth to speak, "lie to me. Half-truths and vague descriptions yes, outright lies no. And you can start with the Vampire I can smell on you," he added with a frown on his face, and Reg grinned at the semi-familiar over-protectiveness of a werewolf and his pack.

* * *

It was on the 11th of August that Raven and Corey boarded a plane to the USA, saying goodbye again to their friends in Oblitus whilst mentally preparing themselves for the gruelling time ahead. The Blakes got off the plane at Arizona a few hours after they took off, where the two Barnes' were waiting for them. Raven was right about it being brutal, Corey mused after the first week, pitying his sister more than he felt sorry for himself. Corey was young and human so he was on an alternating schedule; Monday, Wednesday and Friday he trained with the youngest Barnes brother, Devon, just increasing his stamina (which had already increased due to the morning runs) and working on his agility. Devon's thoughts were that being so young and being on a small timeline he wouldn't be able to teach Corey much physical combat so he made sure that Corey was fast enough to run away, and afterwards if there was time he would work with Corey on incapacitating any attackers to give him more time. The other two days Corey was escorted via Floo over to Master Marek, who continued teaching Corey about Creatures and how to avoid offending one. Corey's weekends were his own though, and he mostly read or sometimes asked Devon to continue working with him.

The brothers weren't as kind to Raven however, and Corey often saw her shuffle to bed and not leave until it time for her morning run. It was only on Sundays that Corey could talk to his sister, and what she told him of her daily routine made him wince in sympathy. The only days Raven didn't train were Sundays, and her daily routine lasted from sunrise to sunset at least. Her status as a half-demon meant she was pushed harder than the two Vampires would with any normal witch or wizard that they had trained, both because her body could take it and because being only half-demon meant she was at a disadvantage physically should she go up against a full-blooded demon. A day's training for the young woman went from runs at dawn to weight training that would give her some upper body strength, which was then followed by running though obstacle courses. Then there was a half hour break for some high-energy food (with a dietary lesson thrown in) which was then followed by reflex training and more running of obstacles. It was El who took over Raven's training, and although he was three years older than Devon they looked almost like twins, the only differences being Devon was taller and leaner, and El had a few more lines and wrinkles than Devon. Raven was alone for the first week of training but then other people slowly joined the camp and Raven found herself training in a group after three weeks at the Barnes' training ground. There were Witches and Wizards as well as full Demons, Vampires and even a Veela, and El more than often turned the obstacle course into a race, which the Magicals had no hope of winning and Raven only a slight chance, a male Earth Demon winning nearly all of them. Sometimes El switched things around, doing balance and speed exercises instead of weights in the morning, or sparring instead of a second time around the obstacle run. Raven was taught how to fight with weapons and without, curbing her extra strength against Magicals to avoid permanent harm and utilising everything at her disposal against full Creatures, and it was no wonder that she was usually in bed by half past nine in the evenings and slept like the dead. Corey was never happier that any more intensive self-defence lessons for him were left until he was older. Raven also dutifully wrote out letters every Sunday, although sometimes she merely wrote one letter and copied it before lying on a sofa and listening to Corey talk about his week.

It was nearing Halloween before the two Blakes found their way home again, and they were thoroughly exhausted but Raven managed to impress Carl by sparring with Chase and lasting nearly eight minutes, which was much longer than she could before. They spent less than a week recovering at home before leaving again, travelling by untraceable Portkey in the form of a scrap of red cloth to a mansion hidden under so many wards Corey wasn't exactly sure where he was. He was taught theory, lots of theory for both transfiguration and charms. He wasn't exactly sure where Raven disappeared to during the day, but she was always around in the evening either to sit with Corey in the library whilst she read a rare tome and Corey did his assignments or to commandeer the Potions Lab and fill any pending orders whilst teaching Corey Potions. The manor was home to sixteen Witches and Wizards who had left the UK after being labelled as 'Dark Creature Supporters', and had each been threatened by an invisible group to the point where their only option was to leave before the group killed them or drove them out by force. With Corey's schedule it was only a matter of time before he had gotten the theory for First and Second Year Charms and Transfiguration down perfectly, and his tutors were filling the time with Defence Against the Dark Arts and general essay writing and research skills, demanding essays on more and more bizarre topics to test how quickly and effectively Corey could search the library to find relevant information. Corey struggled at first with writing a quill but he got better with the large amount of practise.

It was a week before Yule that the two Portkeyed back to England, where Reg immediately kidnapped Corey to take him gift shopping much to Raven's amusement, but Reg confided in Corey later that Raven had also used that time to go shopping; being locked inside a house, albeit a very large house, surrounded by some of the most powerful wards created hadn't given the two much time to find Yule gifts for anyone, and they only had a short time to find suitable ones. The next day Corey and Raven decorated the flat for Yule, something that Corey had never done before. The Potters had only celebrated Christmas, as many of the Light families did to make the Muggleborns feel more at home. Raven and the rest of the inhabitants celebrated Yule, the Winter Solstice, the day where the sun starts to take over from the moon and the days became longer, the nights becoming shorter in response. This year the date was the 21st of December, whereas last year the Solstice was on the 22nd December, before Raven had found Corey. He had been confused though, as to why Raven had seemingly celebrated Christmas too, but she had been out of the country collecting ingredients that can only be picked on the night of the Solstice and so hadn't been able to celebrate with her family, so Raven, Reg and Seth had decided to celebrate on the 25th instead. Corey coming along was a very unexpected event, Raven told him, but one that made the woman glad that she had gone to Diagon that day.

Yule itself was a manic blur, in Corey's opinion. Because Raven wasn't out of the country this time and she had the biggest flat, everyone seemed to congregate at her flat. Jas and Olva, not having any family between them, spent the day with them as did Reg and Seth, unsurprisingly. Of the Elders Chase also spent the day at the flat, Rhys dropped by in the morning but only staying for two and a half hours before leaving again, Ash appeared shortly before noon and didn't leave until past sundown and Seren and Rhys also stayed for at least a few hours, Seren fussing over Raven and Corey like a overprotective parent, making Raven roll her eyes in exasperation and Corey laugh at his guardian's expense.

The next day Raven bundled Corey out of the house and further down Knockturn Alley, only grinning secretively when Corey asked ( _not whined!_ ) where they were going. Raven eventually stopped after taking Corey deeper into Knockturn than he had ever been before, the narrow Alley opening up and becoming lighter, more inviting. Corey was directed to a shop with floor-to-ceiling windows all along the front, letting lots of light into a shop that was completely bare other than a desk near to the back wall with shelves behind it. The floor was all pale wooden panels, the walls a light green, and a doorway was to the right of the desk leading to a hallway the same colour as the shop. There was no sign on the outside to let Corey know what the shop sold, but his questions were soon answered when a young Wizard walked out with a bright smile and greeted them.

"Hello, I am Samuel Blishwick of the Blishwick Family Wand Shop," he told them, his eyes shining. Corey gasped and turned his head frantically between Raven and Samuel. "My grandfather Edward is available to create your wand, if you would follow me." Corey followed the man immediately, Raven laughing softly behind him as she followed. They were taken into the hallway and down one corridor of three, then shown to a door.

"Grandfather, Miss Blake and her brother are here," Samuel said politely, and an old albeit strong voice called from inside for them to enter. Corey bounded inside to chuckles from both behind and in front of him, as the room's occupant came into view. He was old, with a lined face and a joyful smile. He shook Corey's hand and kissed the back of Raven's, then bid them join him on two sofas on the left of the room. Samuel closed the door behind them and walked away.

"My name is Edward Blishwick, and I believe you are here for this young one's first wand?" He asked them. Raven nodded with a soft smile. Samuel studied Corey and then started explaining the process. "Since he is quite young his core has not calmed down and is still prone to the emotional form of magic, or accidental magic. This means that any wand given to him now will not be able to function properly, and it may even cease to work before you start Hogwarts and a new wand will need to be purchased." Corey felt Raven's hand on his shoulder as she nodded to the old Wizard and realised that he was starting to fidget impatiently, and stopped it. He saw Edward turn to him, and looked up. "Do you know of any extra talents you might have?" He asked Corey, and Corey scrunched up his nose and thought.

"I don't think so," he replied, and the old man nodded.

"If you do find any, remember to mention them at your next wand fitting because extra cores might be needed to enhance that particular talent." Edward stood up and walked towards a small shelf filled with pieces of wood and long and short hairs. "For a child's first wand we stick to tail hairs as those are the easiest channels for magical power. Unicorn is the most popular but we also have kelpie, demiguise and a few others. We only use a small selection of woods too, apple, beech, cedar, non-specialised woods that don't need a lot of power to work." He gestured Corey over and had him touch each piece of wood and hair. "You'll feel a spark maybe, or a tug on your magic. Sometimes people find themselves literally unable to put the item down." Corey gave Edward the two items with the strongest pull and the man walked to a workbench where a spell flickered into place and hid the man from view.

It was only ten minutes later that the barrier disappeared and Corey was given his first wand, thestral hair in beech, 10 ¼ inches long. "Beech is a good, strong wood that doesn't have any leanings towards any particular branch of magic," Edward told him when Corey asked about his wand. "Thestral hair is an unusual core, but one well suited to those who have brushed with death. Use it well, and I'll see you in a few years." Corey nodded and grinned, unable to take his eyes off his wand for longer than a few seconds. "You may pay at the desk," Edward told Raven with smiling eyes, and Raven bowed in respect (Corey quickly followed suit) and left the room. Samuel was waiting at the front desk and grinned when he saw them.

"Got your wand then?" He asked the happy boy, whose only reply was a series of rapid nods. "Anything else you would like to purchase?"

"I would like to add a wand-care set and a holster, but I'm not sure where he can wear it?" Raven told him, frowning at Corey's arm and leg.

"Yes, the size of the wand is too big for a forearm holster," Samuel mused, gazing at Corey. "Maybe a calf holster, or..." He picked one out of a cupboard and handed it to Raven. "This attaches to a belt and sticks itself to the wearer's thigh to avoid flapping about. It has a Notice-Me-Not charm on as well." Raven agreed and Samuel rang up their purchases. "That would be eight galleons for the wand, twelve sickles for the care set and one galleon and ten sickles for the holster, so nine galleons and 5 sickles please." Raven handed over the money and Corey put the holster on before sliding his new wand in, and the two left after bidding Samuel Blishwick goodbye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again, sorry for the lateness. This was written before Easter but it took me this long to edit it to my satisfaction, so sorry to the Facebook people who were expecting this out for Easter. Chapter Nine is already underway, and since University finished last week I have no engagements during the day to stop me writing, so here's hoping you don't have to wait as long *cough* six months *cough* for that chapter. Love anything, hate anything, let me know on Facebook under NightLark Fanfiction. Hope you enjoyed!


	9. Chapter Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, have a happy new year!

When Corey went back to the Unplottable Manor in January his tutors were ready to step up their lessons. In an attempt to make sure Corey wouldn't be ahead of his future classmates he was taught mainly useless charms that weren't taught in school, just so that he could get used to holding a wand and casting with it. Because he was so young and his magic was still a bit unstable his tutors decided on a schedule that meant he had at least two days of rest before attempting magic again, and even on the days where he was allowed to practise magic it was only for four hours, with a ten minute break following every half-hour of casting. During these ten minute breaks his tutors would instruct him in the basics of Magical Theory.

When Corey and Raven first appeared in the Manor after Yule they were struck, Corey less-so than Raven, by how different the magic in the Manor felt. Raven was still out of the Manor all day for most of the week so it was Corey who eventually figured it out. It started on the morning of the third day, when Corey named his Magical Theory tutor. This stunned him, because he could have sworn that he had never been told his name before. Then when he walked around the Manor he greeted each of the inhabitants, recognising their faces yet feeling like he was meeting them for the first time, much to the sixteen's amusement. It took him a few more days to realise  _he couldn't remember them when he had left the Manor_. Over Yule he remembered talking to Reg about his tutoring but drawing a blank when he tried to remember who taught him Charms. He couldn't remember their faces or their names, only having a vague sense of gender. Corey was marvelling at the intricacies of the ward needed for a complex version of a Notice-Me-Not charm, and his tutors found him very distracted that day. Raven was suitably impressed too when Corey told her his findings that night.

Because Corey was only allowed to practise magic for such a short time without exhausting himself, two of his tutors taught him about the Muggle world, giving him a Muggle education in Science, Maths, Geography and History, as well as taking him into a specially Warded room of the Manor that kept all ambient Magic out, allowing the computers inside to work uninhibited. Emily, a twenty-nine year old Halfblood was his tutor for Computing, Maths and Science, and Robbie, a thirty-two year old Muggleborn was Corey's tutor for the rest, as well as continuing the essay writing and research skills lessons from before Yule. Joseph was the name of Corey's Charms and Transfiguration tutor, the man having Outstandings in both subjects at NEWT level. The sixteen Witches and Wizards were more open with Corey now, telling him a bit more about their pasts, although Corey still only interacted with half of them on a regular basis, seeing the rest only at mealtimes.

Corey's lessons were sometimes supplemented by the appearance of Nate, a Wizard in his late forties who held Masteries in Ancient Runes and Arithmancy, and whose employment history included being a Ward Maker, a Curse Breaker and Spell Crafter. He taught Corey a few Runic alphabets and basic Arithmancy, not enough to make his first year of the two classes obsolete but enough to focus his spell-casting a bit more, understand a few basic rituals and pique his interest in taking them as his optional units in Third Year.

Raven still disappeared during the day, but a week into their second stay Raven came in through the fireplace with a large grin on her face, loudly proclaiming that she had managed to travel through Shadows. As her father was the only Shadow Demon the Elders knew of Raven hadn't been taught how to use any of the abilities she gained from her father. There had only been one other option, and the Elders hadn't wanted to use it until Raven was older. There was a group of Wizards who wanted to access the power of Shadows, but only Demons could assume total control of the Elements, aside from a few charms like the Lumos spell. This group found a way around it nearly one hundred years ago by consuming a potion containing the blood of a Shadow Demon. It gave them the powers of a Demon and also their longevity, but none of their Healing abilities. The result of this was a group of thirty grotesque once-human figures who had nearly been driven mad by their experiments, but who had the ability to control Shadows. They had been teaching Raven whilst Corey was in his lessons at the Manor, hoping that by making Raven indebted to them they would be able to study her and make themselves human-looking again. Raven, Carl and Ash had negotiated that the group of Elementals, as they called themselves, could have one sample of her blood for that purpose and only after Carl and Ash had deemed that Raven was taught how to use all of her abilities. Before this training the only thing Raven could do with the Shadows was listen to the occasional whisper, but now among other things she could send the Shadows to specific places and have them whisper conversations back to her, and the grin Raven had on her face as she described this made Corey jokingly vow to be careful what he said and where.

Weekends were still Corey's and Raven's to do as they pleased, mostly they spent time in the Potions lab and Corey helped Raven fill her orders. She still had a stream of regular contracts, small Healing Houses (or hospitals as the Muggleborns called them) needing Healing potions, or businesses that require dyes (such as two hairdressers and a tannery). Sometimes she had independent orders, an occasional commission for Veritaserum or Felix Felicis, but the regular contracts made up the bulk of Raven's business. Corey also spent time in the Manor grounds on his broom, and one of the Wizards named Walter would come out with him and give him tips on staying on his broom and dodging Bludgers. Walter told Corey that he would make a decent little Seeker if Corey stayed lean after puberty, a few boys who were Seekers in their First and Second Years at school would find themselves switching to Chasers when their shoulders filled out too much and they'd gotten too heavy for the Seeker position. Corey was thrilled at the commendation, but he knew that it was just another difference between the Potters and Corey. James was a Chaser in Hogwarts and he was grooming Russell to be the same. Corey could remember sitting at the one window he had in his room and watching the two near-identical Potters fly around on top-of-the-range broomsticks as the Potter Lord taught his Heir how to pass and catch the Quaffle to his teammates and various ways of scoring successfully. Corey didn't even bother to ask if he could have flying lessons from James, he knew that James would sneer if Corey was lucky or simply ignore him. The closest Corey got to flying before Raven was listening to Russell giving him tips on turning and speed control, or reading  _Quidditch Through The Ages_.

In the end his tutors told him that to teach him any more would give him an unfair advantage over his classmates and sent him home in the first week of March with only a list of books, Muggle and Magical. Corey also had plans to ask Raven to subscribe to a few newspapers in both worlds, for his new tutors and old ones suggested keeping up to date with current affairs. It would never do him any good to be out of touch. On second thoughts, could he ask for them as an early birthday present?

* * *

In the skies above Oblitus Alley an owl had just entered the Wards. It was a non-descript barn owl, unremarkable in every way due to their being active day and night, able to be seen and yet cause no more of a stir than "oh look, it's an owl!". It silently glided to the Council Building and through the window into one of nine offices. It alighted upon a plain wooden perch and lifted a seemingly empty leg into the air. Rafe shot a quick  _finite incantatem_ at the proffered leg which revealed a tiny roll of parchment tied to the appendage, and Rafe quickly relieved the owl of its message. Said owl immediately took off and flew away. The piece of parchment, only two centimetres in width and tightly rolled, contained only five words.

_I'll come in three weeks._

Rafe read the message sent from the oldest Curse Breaker in the world and smiled. It had taken him nearly a year but he had found him, after going through fifteen Curse Breakers and not finding one that knew of the addition to Lupin's curse. They had all given him ideas of breaking the other two curses but told him in no uncertain terms that those two curses shouldn't be broken whilst the third curse is in effect, since it was tied so closely to the others that tampering with one will cause the victim excruciating pain which inevitably led to a quick but painful death. Three weeks, then they should have some more information. Just three weeks...

* * *

Russ stepped out of the Floo from Uncle Siri's Manor into his own only to be greeted by a House Elf.

"Master and Mistress request Mister Russell's company in the Sun Room," the little thing squeaked, and Russ nodded at the Elf before walking slowly through his ancestral home. Things had changed so much since Harry had gone, all sounds seem to echo in the Manor and it seemed lifeless. If Harry was still here he would have been in the library every day reading whatever books it contained on Magical Manors and finding the reason for it but Russ wasn't like his brother. He wasn't as smart as his brother or as patient, Harry could sit in an armchair after breakfast with a book (or a stack of them) and not move until dinner whereas Russ would start fidgeting within two minutes and have gotten bored within ten and rushed off outside to run around or play with his father.

Despite his slow jaunt through the Manor he reached the Sun Room too soon, a large room on the side of the Manor completely covered in windows to allow as much sunlight in as possible, while a large variety of Heating and Cooling Charms interwoven during construction kept it at an optimum temperature throughout the year. It was built by his Great-Grandfather for the man's wife. His mother and father were sat at a small table and chair set in the middle of the wide space, smiling widely and laughing with each other. They stopped laughing when they saw Russell but their grins stayed.

"Russell honey, your father and I have something very exciting to tell you," Lily said, her painted lips spread in the largest grin Russell had ever seen when they were alone, making Russell immediately check that no reporters or photographers were in the room. "I've been feeling a bit ill honey, and so we went to St Mungo's this morning and they told us the most wonderful news!" Russell frowned, how could a trip to the hospital result in good news?

"You're going to have a little brother or sister in about six months," James finished with the cheesiest grin on his face, a wide smile that tried to overwhelm the dazed shock on his face and only partially managing it. "Isn't this exciting son, you'll be a big brother!" James' hand moved from Lily's knee to her stomach, still flat but not for long. The eight year old froze, faced with a situation that he had not expected. He opened and closed his mouth soundlessly, before he panicked and ran from the room. James and Lily smiled at each other before James stood up and followed his son from the room, calling a house-elf as he walked. "Where is my son headed?" He asked the elf that showed up. The elf walked alongside James as it tried to find Russell.

"He is in the Floo Room Master James," it said quickly, and James altered his course accordingly and picked up his pace. He had just climbed the stairs and entered the corridor leading into the Floo Room when the forgotten elf squeaked "Master Russell has left the Manor Sir," and quickly popped away. James frowned and continued his journey to the Floo Room in order to find his son's destination.

Sirius was quite surprised when not more than twenty minutes after Russell disappeared into the Floo Kreacher came to him to tell him that Russell had reappeared. When Sirius went to the Reception Room to greet his godson he found that the boy was dumbstruck and distracted, staring into the distance with his mouth agape. Sirius cleared his throat and Russell turned to him, aware but still somewhat dazed.

"Come," he said, guiding the eight-year-old away from the fireplace and telling Kreacher to remain by the fireplace and make sure they were undisturbed. Russell was silent for the entire journey, which was unusual for the boy. Sirius settled the child on the sofa before kneeling in front of him and looking at Russell seriously. "What is the matter Russell? You can tell me, I promise." Russell blinked, an action but not what Sirius would call a response. "Russell, you're scaring me kid, please tell me what happened?" There was a longer blink this time, followed by Russell moving his head and exhaling shakily.

"Mum's pregnant," he said, and his voice was high with either shock or tears, Sirius couldn't tell. "They got rid of Harry, but they're having another child a year later?" Now it was Sirius' turn to still in shock, mouth agape and eyes blinking rapidly as if it could help fan his overheated brain.

"Lily… pregnant… again?" He stuttered, and Russell nodded sadly before his eyes grew shiny.

"I'm never going back to them, never!" Russell said suddenly before bursting into tears, and Sirius gathered the emotional eight-year-old into his arms. Although he knew that it was just the outburst of an emotionally-overloaded child Sirius couldn't help but wish that Russell meant it, and that Sirius could reunite his godson with his twin.

* * *

Raven boxed the last of the Potions order and sent it off with Grey, her post raven. Given to her when she was eleven, Grey was named for the few grey feathers that formed a mark on the top of his head. Wade and Viv wanted to get Raven a bird so that they could write to each other whilst the half-witch was at Hogwarts, and when the insufferable twins heard of an overseas trainer who bred ravens to carry post as well as the normal owls the pair decided… well, they decided that Raven needed a raven. Grey had caused most of the Elders to roll their eyes when they saw him, but Chase had snickered and pled with Carl to let Raven keep the "most unimaginative gift ever" in the Vampire's opinion.

Looking around her lab Raven concluded that there was nothing to do there having cleaned it already, and left the room to inspect her bookcases. She had finished the books she had last brought before they went to the Manor, and as such needed something new to read. Unfortunately she had stopped buying in a steady stream of books due to being out of the country and had finished all of the books she'd been given at Yule and so had nothing in her bookcases that she hadn't read before. This gave Raven an idea and the twenty-year-old gleefully left the flat for the shop below. Corey had gone to the Quidditch Pitch so she wasn't expected him to be back much before sundown, and considering it wasn't even noon yet Raven could spend the whole afternoon exploring the bookshop, and if that didn't work she could go pester Amon and see what books he had acquired whilst she was away.

The bell rang as Raven opened the door and Frank looked up from what looked like an inventory list. He lit up at the sight of his customer and immediately put the list down.

"I have some tomes I think you'll like," he said before Raven had even closed the door, and Raven grinned and followed the Wizard around the shop to gather up the books. Ninety minutes, seventeen books and a much lighter money pouch later Raven left the bookshop with high spirits and her nose buried in a book about rituals involving runic circles. She stopped off in the café and procured some of Kalei's famous shortbread, reading a bit more of the book before she reached a paragraph that sounded interesting. Unfortunately not much more information was given about the differences between the magic of a Being and that of a Magical and the different outcomes on the ritual circle so she decided to visit Amon and see what books he might have on the subject. Waving a goodbye to Kalei Raven strolled over to the Town Hall and instead of going straight ahead and into the meeting hall she turned right and went up a set of stairs. At the top of the flight of stairs there was a desk, and behind the desk sat an elderly lady who smiled warmly at the approaching woman.

"I have not seen you for a while!" The elderly lady said as she hugged Raven across the desk. "How have you been child? I heard Mister Carl finally got his way and sent you out of the country for training."

"I've had so much fun Marie, I can't even begin to describe it," Raven replied, grinning happily. Marie had been the Elders' secretary/personal assistant since before Raven was born, and the old spinster Shapeshifter had watched a five-year-old girl run past playing hide-and-seek, an eight-year-old rushing by to find Seren, a teenager wanting homework help and wondering if Amon was free and so many queries and conversations in between that Marie was as much of a constant in Raven's childhood as the rest of the Elders. This time Marie took one look at the object in Raven's hand and smiled knowingly.

"I'm afraid Mister Amon is out for the day, he had something to attend to on the continent. And I'm glad you're enjoying your learning, I remember how full of stories you'd be when you came back from your school, even as you were complaining about their lack of curriculum." Raven blushed and Marie chuckled. She then looked down at her book. "Well, Miss Alina is free for the rest of the afternoon, Alpha Chase has two hours free and Miss Seren, Mister Carl and Alpha Rafael are all free for the rest of the afternoon." Raven leant her head to the right, a sign that Marie knew as the young girl thinking, and waited for Raven's answer. "I know Miss Seren has missed you dearly child," Marie hinted, and Raven smiled bashfully and made her way down the corridor.

"Okay Marie, you don't have to tell me twice," she called back as she kept walking, and the old lady merely laughed as she noted Seren down as unavailable. The corridor was just a normal one, with pale cream walls, a dark cream carpet and pieces of artwork dispersed between nine ordinary-looking wooden doors, six on the left and three on the right. There was no distinguishing features to any of the doors but long years of experience had Raven walking to the second door on the right and knocking three times. Raven always had a distinctive rhythm of one solid knock followed by two faster, lighter knocks that had all of the Elders knowing just who was visiting them even without the use of acute senses like scent or hearing. Raven always used to visit Seren a lot during her childhood and teenage years, Seren was the maternal figure of the Elders and especially during Raven's Hogwarts years Seren would take a day and just sit with Raven, where Seren could listen to the girl's worries and fears, her excitement and successes, not trying to fill the place of Raven's mother but trying to make her absence less noticeable. Raven had always known that none of the people raising her were her blood family but they had always tried their best to not make Raven feel alone.

There was no verbal answer to Raven's knock but soon she heard faint sounds of movement before the door was opened and Seren smiled down at her young charge. The Succubus took the time to inspect the Demoness from head to toe, noticing that the young woman had acquired wiry muscles on her travels, and the shadows in the room seemed to fluctuate and even bend towards the young Demoness. There were no signs that she'd been forgetting to eat, no injuries and the girl seemed happier and smiled brighter than Seren had seen in a while. The Elder folded her adopted child into a warm hug, smiling wide when Raven returned the hug with no hesitation, just as she had when she was a child. None of the Elders had children, it was agreed that creating and maintaining their sanctuary would always be their first priority but that never stopped them loving all children born in the Alley as their own, and when Raven's parents handed Seren and Rhys a three-year-old girl and asked all the Elders in the Hall to raise her as their own the nine had no objections, although Alina didn't spend much time with the girl not knowing what increased amounts of Light would do to the young half-Shadow child.

The two women broke from the hug and Seren ushered Raven to a large sofa and pulled the girl into her side.

"Now, sit down and tell me all about the past year." The Succubus near-ordered and the younger woman started babbling about the past year, the tour of Beauxbatons that she adored, the trip to L'Allée des Sorciers. Seren knew most of it due to Raven's continuing letters home but to hear her child talk about it in person filled Seren's heart with warmth. She heard stories of Corey's childish plays and new books that Raven had read, and sometimes-tense moments between Raven and Corey because missed his brother and as a near-stranger Raven was a poor substitute. Raven talked about how glad she was that Reg and Seth were around, Reg looking near enough like his brother and Corey's Uncle Sirius that Corey wasn't opposed to listening to Reg as a father figure and Raven was so happy that she wasn't raising Corey on her own. Seren reassured Raven that even if Reg and Seth left then Raven wouldn't be on her own, Carl and Seren had been Raven's main parental figures during her childhood and Seren wasn't going to stop just because Raven was an adult. They would act as Corey's parental figures too should there be a need, and indeed Seren was wondering if she could perhaps follow Raven and Corey to their next Mentor but decided not to. That being said, maybe Ash fancied visiting his old friends in the States?

* * *

A piece of parchment was placed in front of Russell, and the boy read it and frowned, looking to his godfather for more information. The man was fidgeting from foot to foot and his eyes were drilled on Russell.

"It's a list of tutors who are willing to take you on, and what they'll teach you. I was going to start you here, in the USA. These two will teach you endurance and stamina, two things you'll need to last longer in a duel." Sirius looked at Russell, whose face was determined still. "This will get you away from James and Lily, and it gives you a legitimate reason to be away. After all, the Boy-Who-Lived needs extra training in case any of Voldemort's old supporters want to take revenge." Russell looked at the parchment again then nodded to his Uncle. Sirius' eyes widened just a little and lines around his mouth relaxed.

"I'll do it," he said definitively, and Sirius took the parchment back and rolled it up. Sirius stood tall and calm now, no fidgeting present.

"Okay then. Kreacher," the house-elf appeared immediately. "Go and pack my belongings, I want enough clothes and toiletries for about two months away and make sure to include both casual and formal robes as well as my battle robes and my preferred weapons. Afterwards you will go to Potter Manor and do the same for Russell's belongings, pack enough casual and formal clothes for two months away. We will be leaving tomorrow morning so you have until then to get everything clean, fresh and packed. Is there anything specific you want Kreacher to pack?" Sirius asked Russell, and the boy thought but in the end shook his head. "If you think of anything then just call Kreacher." Both child and House-Elf nodded. "I would like dinner to be served at seven, if you believe that is feasible?"

"Yes Master Sirius," the Elf rasped, and Sirius nodded.

"You are dismissed then, Kreacher. Russell, see what you have in your room here and decide if you want to bring it or not, then the afternoon is your own. I will see you in the dining room at seven?" The boy nodded then grinned a little, then ran out of the room. Sirius just shook his head fondly before heading through the Floo. He needed to find one of the Elders if he was going to get Russell and himself to the Barnes' in USA.


End file.
